diff --git a/bin/xbps-install/main.c b/bin/xbps-install/main.c
index 5a3656df2..8254bcfc7 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-install/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-install/main.c
@@ -238,8 +238,11 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	/* Sync remote repository data and import keys from remote repos */
 	if (syncf && !drun) {
-		if ((rv = xbps_rpool_sync(&xh, NULL)) != 0)
-			exit(rv);
+		if ((rv = xbps_rpool_sync(&xh)) < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "Failed to sync repository pool: %s\n",
+			    strerror(-rv));
+			exit(-rv);
+		}
 		rv = xbps_rpool_foreach(&xh, repo_import_key_cb, NULL);
 		if (rv != 0)
 			exit(rv);
diff --git a/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c b/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
index baa82c3b4..2561677fb 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
@@ -192,8 +192,13 @@ ownedby(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *pat, bool repo, bool regex)
 
 	if (regex) {
 		ffd.rematch = true;
-		if (regcomp(&ffd.regex, ffd.pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB|REG_ICASE) != 0)
+		rv = regcomp(&ffd.regex, ffd.pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB|REG_ICASE);
+		if (rv != 0) {
+			char errbuf[256];
+			regerror(rv, &ffd.regex, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf));
+			fprintf(stderr, "Failed to compile pattern: %s\n", errbuf);
 			return EINVAL;
+		}
 	}
 	if (repo)
 		rv = xbps_rpool_foreach(xhp, repo_ownedby_cb, &ffd);
diff --git a/bin/xbps-query/search.c b/bin/xbps-query/search.c
index 7f3dfe0ff..0e6db2eca 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-query/search.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-query/search.c
@@ -225,9 +225,15 @@ search(struct xbps_handle *xhp, bool repo_mode, const char *pat, const char *pro
 
 	sd.regex = regex;
 	if (regex) {
-		if (regcomp(&sd.regexp, pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB|REG_ICASE) != 0)
-			return errno;
+		rv = regcomp(&sd.regexp, pat, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB|REG_ICASE);
+		if (rv != 0) {
+			char errbuf[256];
+			regerror(rv, &sd.regexp, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf));
+			fprintf(stderr, "Failed to compile pattern: %s\n", errbuf);
+			return EINVAL;
+		}
 	}
+
 	sd.repo_mode = repo_mode;
 	sd.pat = pat;
 	sd.prop = prop;
@@ -242,7 +248,7 @@ search(struct xbps_handle *xhp, bool repo_mode, const char *pat, const char *pro
 
 	if (repo_mode) {
 		rv = xbps_rpool_foreach(xhp, search_repo_cb, &sd);
-		if (rv != 0 && rv != ENOTSUP) {
+		if (rv != 0) {
 			xbps_error_printf("Failed to initialize rpool: %s\n",
 			    strerror(rv));
 			return rv;
diff --git a/include/xbps.h.in b/include/xbps.h.in
index dd9689a1d..08747420f 100644
--- a/include/xbps.h.in
+++ b/include/xbps.h.in
@@ -1482,16 +1482,14 @@ void xbps_rpool_release(struct xbps_handle *xhp);
 
 /**
  * Synchronizes repository data for all remote repositories
- * as specified in the configuration file or if \a uri argument is
- * set, just sync for that repository.
+ * as specified in the configuration file.
  *
  * @param[in] xhp Pointer to the xbps_handle struct.
- * @param[in] uri Repository URI to match for sync (optional).
  *
- * @return 0 on success, ENOTSUP if no repositories were found in
- * the configuration file.
+ * @return 0 on success or a negative errno otherwise.
+ * @retval -ENOENT There are no repositories to sync.
  */
-int xbps_rpool_sync(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *uri);
+int xbps_rpool_sync(struct xbps_handle *xhp);
 
 /**
  * Iterates over the repository pool and executes the \a fn function
diff --git a/lib/rpool.c b/lib/rpool.c
index aa58849de..6a27e7d8f 100644
--- a/lib/rpool.c
+++ b/lib/rpool.c
@@ -59,16 +59,15 @@ static SIMPLEQ_HEAD(rpool_head, xbps_repo) rpool_queue =
  */
 
 int
-xbps_rpool_sync(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *uri)
+xbps_rpool_sync(struct xbps_handle *xhp)
 {
 	const char *repouri = NULL;
 
+	if (xbps_array_count(xhp->repositories) == 0)
+		return -ENOENT;
+
 	for (unsigned int i = 0; i < xbps_array_count(xhp->repositories); i++) {
 		xbps_array_get_cstring_nocopy(xhp->repositories, i, &repouri);
-		/* If argument was set just process that repository */
-		if (uri && strcmp(repouri, uri))
-			continue;
-
 		if (xbps_repo_sync(xhp, repouri) == -1) {
 			xbps_dbg_printf(
 			    "[rpool] `%s' failed to fetch repository data: %s\n",
@@ -143,7 +142,7 @@ xbps_rpool_foreach(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 	struct xbps_repo *repo = NULL;
 	const char *repouri = NULL;
 	int rv = 0;
-	bool foundrepo = false, done = false;
+	bool done = false;
 	unsigned int n = 0;
 
 	assert(fn != NULL);
@@ -161,13 +160,10 @@ xbps_rpool_foreach(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 			SIMPLEQ_INSERT_TAIL(&rpool_queue, repo, entries);
 			xbps_dbg_printf("[rpool] `%s' registered.\n", repouri);
 		}
-		foundrepo = true;
 		rv = (*fn)(repo, arg, &done);
 		if (rv != 0 || done)
 			break;
 	}
-	if (!foundrepo)
-		rv = ENOTSUP;
 
 	return rv;
 }