diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 6d1ff0f..af3d32c 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ use std::io;
 
 use thiserror::Error;
 
+pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, Error>;
+
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 pub enum Error {
     #[error("{msg}: {src}")]
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 9499203..9317130 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ mod spawner;
 mod specification;
 mod void;
 
-use error::Error;
+use error::{Error, Result};
 use spawner::Spawner;
 use specification::Specification;
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use clap::{App, AppSettings};
 use nix::fcntl::OFlag;
 use nix::unistd::{self};
 
-pub fn run() -> Result<(), Error> {
+pub fn run() -> Result<()> {
     // process arguments
     let matches = App::new("clone-shim")
         .version(env!("GIT_HASH"))
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ impl PipePair {
     }
 }
 
-fn create_pipes(names: Vec<&str>) -> Result<HashMap<String, PipePair>, Error> {
+fn create_pipes(names: Vec<&str>) -> Result<HashMap<String, PipePair>> {
     let mut pipes = HashMap::new();
 
     for pipe in names {
diff --git a/src/spawner.rs b/src/spawner.rs
index 93f0040..06c0466 100644
--- a/src/spawner.rs
+++ b/src/spawner.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use log::{debug, error, info};
 use super::specification::{Arg, Entrypoint, Pipe, Specification, Trigger};
 use super::PipePair;
 use crate::void::VoidBuilder;
-use crate::Error;
+use crate::{Error, Result};
 
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::ffi::CString;
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pub struct Spawner<'a> {
 }
 
 impl<'a> Spawner<'a> {
-    pub fn spawn(&mut self) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    pub fn spawn(&mut self) -> Result<()> {
         for (name, entrypoint) in &self.spec.entrypoints {
             info!("spawning entrypoint `{}`", name.as_str());
 
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ impl<'a> Spawner<'a> {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    fn pipe_trigger(&self, mut pipe: File, spec: &Entrypoint, name: &str) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    fn pipe_trigger(&self, mut pipe: File, spec: &Entrypoint, name: &str) -> Result<()> {
         let mut buf = [0_u8; BUFFER_SIZE];
 
         loop {
diff --git a/src/specification.rs b/src/specification.rs
index 759c28d..e864335 100644
--- a/src/specification.rs
+++ b/src/specification.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use log::debug;
 
-use crate::Error;
+use crate::{Error, Result};
 
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ impl Specification {
         (read, write)
     }
 
-    pub fn validate(&self) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    pub fn validate(&self) -> Result<()> {
         // validate pipes match
         let (read, write) = self.pipes();
         let mut read_set = HashSet::with_capacity(read.len());
diff --git a/src/void.rs b/src/void.rs
index e70398e..cfee746 100644
--- a/src/void.rs
+++ b/src/void.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use crate::clone::{clone3, CloneArgs, CloneFlags};
-use crate::Error;
+use crate::{Error, Result};
 
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::fs;
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ impl VoidBuilder {
         self
     }
 
-    pub fn spawn(&mut self, child_fn: impl FnOnce() -> i32) -> Result<VoidHandle, Error> {
+    pub fn spawn(&mut self, child_fn: impl FnOnce() -> i32) -> Result<VoidHandle> {
         let mut args = CloneArgs::new(
             CloneFlags::CLONE_NEWCGROUP
                 | CloneFlags::CLONE_NEWIPC
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ impl VoidBuilder {
     }
 
     // per-namespace void creation
-    fn newns_post(&self) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    fn newns_post(&self) -> Result<()> {
         // consume the TempDir so it doesn't get deleted
         let new_root = tempfile::tempdir()?.into_path();