diff --git a/job.c b/job.c
index efc0199e..6267336b 100644
--- a/job.c
+++ b/job.c
@@ -114,10 +114,10 @@ job_run(const char *cmd, struct session *s, const char *cwd,
 		proc_clear_signals(server_proc, 1);
 		sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, &oldset, NULL);
 
-		if (cwd == NULL || chdir(cwd) != 0) {
-			if ((home = find_home()) == NULL || chdir(home) != 0)
-				chdir("/");
-		}
+		if ((cwd == NULL || chdir(cwd) != 0) &&
+		    ((home = find_home()) == NULL || chdir(home) != 0) &&
+		    chdir("/") != 0)
+			fatal("chdir failed");
 
 		environ_push(env);
 		environ_free(env);
diff --git a/spawn.c b/spawn.c
index d5b52ffa..41ffe612 100644
--- a/spawn.c
+++ b/spawn.c
@@ -379,10 +379,10 @@ spawn_pane(struct spawn_context *sc, char **cause)
 	 * Child process. Change to the working directory or home if that
 	 * fails.
 	 */
-	if (chdir(new_wp->cwd) != 0) {
-		if ((tmp = find_home()) == NULL || chdir(tmp) != 0)
-			chdir("/");
-	}
+	if (chdir(new_wp->cwd) != 0 &&
+	    ((tmp = find_home()) == NULL || chdir(tmp) != 0) &&
+	    chdir("/") != 0)
+		fatal("chdir failed");
 
 	/*
 	 * Update terminal escape characters from the session if available and