diff --git a/src/log.h b/src/log.h
index 55140a7..1bfc921 100644
--- a/src/log.h
+++ b/src/log.h
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 #define LOG_I g_info
 #define LOG_D g_debug
 
+#define DIE(...) do { LOG_C(__VA_ARGS__); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } while (0)
+
 void dunst_log_init(bool testing);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/option_parser.c b/src/option_parser.c
index 7641ccb..9f9d00d 100644
--- a/src/option_parser.c
+++ b/src/option_parser.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+#include "log.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 
 typedef struct _entry_t {
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ section_t *new_section(const char *name)
 {
         for (int i = 0; i < section_count; i++) {
                 if (!strcmp(name, sections[i].name)) {
-                        die("Duplicated section in dunstrc detected.\n", -1);
+                        DIE("Duplicated section in dunstrc detected.");
                 }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/settings.c b/src/settings.c
index 90fc321..f4eb88e 100644
--- a/src/settings.c
+++ b/src/settings.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "rules.h" // put before config.h to fix missing include
 #include "config.h"
 #include "dunst.h"
+#include "log.h"
 #include "notification.h"
 #include "option_parser.h"
 #include "utils.h"
@@ -85,10 +86,7 @@ void load_settings(char *cmdline_config_path)
                 }
 
                 if(!config_file) {
-                        char *msg = g_strdup_printf(
-                                        "Cannot find config file: '%s'\n",
-                                        cmdline_config_path);
-                        die(msg, 1);
+                        DIE("Cannot find config file: '%s'", cmdline_config_path);
                 }
         }
         if (config_file == NULL) {
diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index eff2f78..6972a67 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+#include "log.h"
+
 char *string_replace_char(char needle, char replacement, char *haystack)
 {
         char *current = haystack;
@@ -164,10 +166,4 @@ gint64 string_to_time(const char *string)
                 return 0;
 }
 
-void die(char *text, int exit_value)
-{
-        fputs(text, stderr);
-        exit(exit_value);
-}
-
 /* vim: set tabstop=8 shiftwidth=8 expandtab textwidth=0: */
diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index 18333d9..874bb49 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ char *string_append(char *a, const char *b, const char *sep);
 /* strip content between two delimiter characters (inplace) */
 void string_strip_delimited(char *str, char a, char b);
 
-/* exit with an error message */
-void die(char *msg, int exit_value);
-
 /* replace tilde and path-specific values with its equivalents */
 char *string_to_path(char *string);
 
diff --git a/src/x11/x.c b/src/x11/x.c
index 0f38487..b640902 100644
--- a/src/x11/x.c
+++ b/src/x11/x.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 #include "src/dbus.h"
 #include "src/dunst.h"
+#include "src/log.h"
 #include "src/markup.h"
 #include "src/notification.h"
 #include "src/queues.h"
@@ -996,7 +997,7 @@ void x_setup(void)
         if (!setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "") || !XSupportsLocale())
                 fputs("no locale support\n", stderr);
         if (!(xctx.dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL))) {
-                die("cannot open display\n", EXIT_FAILURE);
+                DIE("Cannot open X11 display.");
         }
 
         x_shortcut_init(&settings.close_ks);