diff --git a/bin/Makefile b/bin/Makefile
index 2d451be7..835b75ac 100644
--- a/bin/Makefile
+++ b/bin/Makefile
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ SUBDIRS +=	xbps-digest
 SUBDIRS +=	xbps-fetch
 SUBDIRS +=	xbps-pkgdb
 SUBDIRS +=	xbps-repo
+SUBDIRS +=	xbps-fetch
 
 .PHONY: all
 all:
diff --git a/bin/xbps-fetch/main.c b/bin/xbps-fetch/main.c
index 7daeabcd..c6995a06 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-fetch/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-fetch/main.c
@@ -5,10 +5,18 @@
 int
 main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
+	int rv = 0;
+
 	if (argc != 2) {
 		printf("Usage: xbps-fetch [options] URL\n");
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
-	return xbps_fetch_file(argv[1], ".");
+	rv = xbps_fetch_file(argv[1], ".");
+	if (rv != 0) {
+		printf("xbps-fetch: couldn't download %s!\n", argv[1]);
+		printf("xbps-fetch: %s\n", xbps_fetch_error_string());
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+	exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
 }
diff --git a/include/xbps_api.h b/include/xbps_api.h
index 7e22f74f..9e071dea 100644
--- a/include/xbps_api.h
+++ b/include/xbps_api.h
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT	xbps_fetch_file(const char *, const char *);
 void SYMEXPORT	(*xbps_fetch_start_cb)(const char *, off_t *, off_t *);
 void SYMEXPORT	(*xbps_fetch_update_cb)(off_t *);
 void SYMEXPORT	(*xbps_fetch_end_cb)(void);
+const char SYMEXPORT	*xbps_fetch_error_string(void);
 
 /* From lib/fexec.c */
 int SYMEXPORT	xbps_file_exec(const char *, ...);
diff --git a/lib/download.c b/lib/download.c
index 87910fef..b0cc7143 100644
--- a/lib/download.c
+++ b/lib/download.c
@@ -164,6 +164,12 @@ stat_end(struct xferstat *xsp)
 	    xsp->name, size, stat_bps(xsp));
 }
 
+const char SYMEXPORT *
+xbps_fetch_error_string(void)
+{
+	return fetchLastErrString;
+}
+
 int SYMEXPORT
 xbps_fetch_file(const char *uri, const char *outputdir)
 {
diff --git a/prog.mk b/prog.mk
index 62fa5d88..0aa8e5ab 100644
--- a/prog.mk
+++ b/prog.mk
@@ -22,10 +22,12 @@ clean:
 .PHONY: install
 install: $(BIN) $(BIN_STATIC) $(MAN)
 	install -d $(SBINDIR)
-	install -d $(MANDIR)
 	install $(INSTALL_STRIPPED) -m 755 $(BIN) $(SBINDIR)
 	install $(INSTALL_STRIPPED) -m 755 $(BIN_STATIC) $(SBINDIR)
+ifdef MAN
+	install -d $(MANDIR)
 	install -m 644 $(MAN) $(MANDIR)
+endif
 
 .PHONY: uninstall
 uninstall: