diff --git a/src/udev/udev-ctrl.c b/src/udev/udev-ctrl.c
index d90ebb7259..cb36c7e537 100644
--- a/src/udev/udev-ctrl.c
+++ b/src/udev/udev-ctrl.c
@@ -214,13 +214,11 @@ static struct udev_ctrl_connection *udev_ctrl_connection_free(struct udev_ctrl_c
 DEFINE_TRIVIAL_REF_UNREF_FUNC(struct udev_ctrl_connection, udev_ctrl_connection, udev_ctrl_connection_free);
 
 static int ctrl_send(struct udev_ctrl *uctrl, enum udev_ctrl_msg_type type, int intval, const char *buf, int timeout) {
-        struct udev_ctrl_msg_wire ctrl_msg_wire;
-        int err = 0;
-
-        memzero(&ctrl_msg_wire, sizeof(struct udev_ctrl_msg_wire));
-        strcpy(ctrl_msg_wire.version, "udev-" PACKAGE_VERSION);
-        ctrl_msg_wire.magic = UDEV_CTRL_MAGIC;
-        ctrl_msg_wire.type = type;
+        struct udev_ctrl_msg_wire ctrl_msg_wire = {
+                .version = "udev-" STRINGIFY(PROJECT_VERSION),
+                .magic = UDEV_CTRL_MAGIC,
+                .type = type,
+        };
 
         if (buf)
                 strscpy(ctrl_msg_wire.buf, sizeof(ctrl_msg_wire.buf), buf);
@@ -228,43 +226,33 @@ static int ctrl_send(struct udev_ctrl *uctrl, enum udev_ctrl_msg_type type, int
                 ctrl_msg_wire.intval = intval;
 
         if (!uctrl->connected) {
-                if (connect(uctrl->sock, &uctrl->saddr.sa, uctrl->addrlen) < 0) {
-                        err = -errno;
-                        goto out;
-                }
+                if (connect(uctrl->sock, &uctrl->saddr.sa, uctrl->addrlen) < 0)
+                        return -errno;
                 uctrl->connected = true;
         }
-        if (send(uctrl->sock, &ctrl_msg_wire, sizeof(ctrl_msg_wire), 0) < 0) {
-                err = -errno;
-                goto out;
-        }
+        if (send(uctrl->sock, &ctrl_msg_wire, sizeof(ctrl_msg_wire), 0) < 0)
+                return -errno;
 
         /* wait for peer message handling or disconnect */
         for (;;) {
-                struct pollfd pfd[1];
+                struct pollfd pfd = {
+                        .fd = uctrl->sock,
+                        .events = POLLIN,
+                };
                 int r;
 
-                pfd[0].fd = uctrl->sock;
-                pfd[0].events = POLLIN;
-                r = poll(pfd, 1, timeout * MSEC_PER_SEC);
+                r = poll(&pfd, 1, timeout * MSEC_PER_SEC);
                 if (r < 0) {
                         if (errno == EINTR)
                                 continue;
-                        err = -errno;
-                        break;
+                        return -errno;
                 }
-
-                if (r > 0 && pfd[0].revents & POLLERR) {
-                        err = -EIO;
-                        break;
-                }
-
                 if (r == 0)
-                        err = -ETIMEDOUT;
-                break;
+                        return -ETIMEDOUT;
+                if (pfd.revents & POLLERR)
+                        return -EIO;
+                return 0;
         }
-out:
-        return err;
 }
 
 int udev_ctrl_send_set_log_level(struct udev_ctrl *uctrl, int priority, int timeout) {