diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/chunks.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/chunks.rs
index 9e9d212c2..5ab98392d 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/chunks.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/chunks.rs
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ pub fn read<T: Read>(
                 // because it was only temporarily transmuted to a Vec<Line<'static>> to make recycling possible.
                 std::mem::transmute::<Vec<Line<'static>>, Vec<Line<'_>>>(lines)
             };
-            let read = crash_if_err!(1, std::str::from_utf8(&buffer[..read]));
+            let read = crash_if_err!(2, std::str::from_utf8(&buffer[..read]));
             let mut line_data = LineData {
                 selections,
                 num_infos,
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ fn read_to_buffer<T: Read>(
             Err(e) if e.kind() == ErrorKind::Interrupted => {
                 // retry
             }
-            Err(e) => crash!(1, "{}", e),
+            Err(e) => crash!(2, "{}", e),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs
index e0814b7a2..201dda8bb 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ fn read_write_loop<I: WriteableTmpFile>(
     }
 
     let tmp_dir = crash_if_err!(
-        1,
+        2,
         tempfile::Builder::new()
             .prefix("uutils_sort")
             .tempdir_in(tmp_dir_parent)
diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
index 91365b603..3d7e890b9 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ impl GlobalSettings {
                 Ok(f) => BufWriter::new(Box::new(f) as Box<dyn Write>),
                 Err(e) => {
                     show_error!("{0}: {1}", filename, e.to_string());
-                    panic!("Could not open output file");
+                    crash!(2, "Could not open output file");
                 }
             },
             None => BufWriter::new(Box::new(stdout()) as Box<dyn Write>),
@@ -942,7 +942,9 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> i32 {
     let usage = get_usage();
     let mut settings: GlobalSettings = Default::default();
 
-    let matches = uu_app().usage(&usage[..]).get_matches_from(args);
+    let matches = uu_app().usage(&usage[..]).get_matches_from_safe(args);
+
+    let matches = crash_if_err!(2, matches);
 
     settings.debug = matches.is_present(options::DEBUG);
 
@@ -1060,14 +1062,14 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> i32 {
         /* if no file, default to stdin */
         files.push("-".to_owned());
     } else if settings.check && files.len() != 1 {
-        crash!(1, "extra operand `{}' not allowed with -c", files[1])
+        crash!(2, "extra operand `{}' not allowed with -c", files[1])
     }
 
     if let Some(arg) = matches.args.get(options::SEPARATOR) {
         let separator = arg.vals[0].to_string_lossy();
         let separator = separator;
         if separator.len() != 1 {
-            crash!(1, "separator must be exactly one character long");
+            crash!(2, "separator must be exactly one character long");
         }
         settings.separator = Some(separator.chars().next().unwrap())
     }
@@ -1338,7 +1340,7 @@ fn exec(files: &[String], settings: &GlobalSettings) -> i32 {
         file_merger.write_all(settings);
     } else if settings.check {
         if files.len() > 1 {
-            crash!(1, "only one file allowed with -c");
+            crash!(2, "only one file allowed with -c");
         }
         return check::check(files.first().unwrap(), settings);
     } else {
@@ -1623,7 +1625,11 @@ fn print_sorted<'a, T: Iterator<Item = &'a Line<'a>>>(iter: T, settings: &Global
     }
 }
 
-// from cat.rs
+/// Strips the trailing " (os error XX)" from io error strings.
+fn strip_errno(err: &str) -> &str {
+    &err[..err.find(" (os error ").unwrap_or(err.len())]
+}
+
 fn open(path: impl AsRef<OsStr>) -> Box<dyn Read + Send> {
     let path = path.as_ref();
     if path == "-" {
@@ -1631,10 +1637,17 @@ fn open(path: impl AsRef<OsStr>) -> Box<dyn Read + Send> {
         return Box::new(stdin) as Box<dyn Read + Send>;
     }
 
-    match File::open(Path::new(path)) {
+    let path = Path::new(path);
+
+    match File::open(path) {
         Ok(f) => Box::new(f) as Box<dyn Read + Send>,
         Err(e) => {
-            crash!(2, "cannot read: {0:?}: {1}", path, e);
+            crash!(
+                2,
+                "cannot read: {0}: {1}",
+                path.to_string_lossy(),
+                strip_errno(&e.to_string())
+            );
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
index 4a1cc3fa9..e594de0a7 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
@@ -839,9 +839,9 @@ fn test_nonexistent_file() {
         .status_code(2)
         .stderr_only(
             #[cfg(not(windows))]
-            "sort: cannot read: \"nonexistent.txt\": No such file or directory (os error 2)",
+            "sort: cannot read: nonexistent.txt: No such file or directory",
             #[cfg(windows)]
-            "sort: cannot read: \"nonexistent.txt\": The system cannot find the file specified. (os error 2)",
+            "sort: cannot read: nonexistent.txt: The system cannot find the file specified.",
         );
 }