diff --git a/test/tools.cpp b/test/tools.cpp
index 2013ee222..7d9e18c3e 100644
--- a/test/tools.cpp
+++ b/test/tools.cpp
@@ -95,7 +95,9 @@ std::unique_ptr<TempFile>
 makeTempFile(const char* name, const std::string& content)
 {
   std::unique_ptr<TempFile> p(new TempFile(name));
-  write(p->fd(), &content[0], content.size());
+  if (write(p->fd(), &content[0], content.size()) != (ssize_t)content.size()) {
+    throw std::runtime_error("Error writing temp file " + p->path());
+  }
   p->close();
   return p;
 }
diff --git a/test/tools.h b/test/tools.h
index f5aa2eb59..e8074282f 100644
--- a/test/tools.h
+++ b/test/tools.h
@@ -113,7 +113,9 @@ zim::Buffer write_to_buffer(const T& object, const std::string& tail="")
   TempFile tmpFile("test_temp_file");
   const auto tmp_fd = tmpFile.fd();
   object.write(tmp_fd);
-  write(tmp_fd, tail.data(), tail.size());
+  if (write(tmp_fd, tail.data(), tail.size()) != (ssize_t)tail.size()) {
+    throw std::runtime_error("Cannot write to " + tmpFile.path());
+  }
   size_type size = LSEEK(tmp_fd, 0, SEEK_END);
 
   auto buf = zim::Buffer::makeBuffer(zim::zsize_t(size));