diff --git a/container/check/absolute.go b/container/check/absolute.go
index 26f0def..d17d5e1 100644
--- a/container/check/absolute.go
+++ b/container/check/absolute.go
@@ -13,15 +13,18 @@ import (
 )
 
 // AbsoluteError is returned by [NewAbs] and holds the invalid pathname.
-type AbsoluteError struct{ Pathname string }
+type AbsoluteError string
 
-func (e *AbsoluteError) Error() string { return fmt.Sprintf("path %q is not absolute", e.Pathname) }
-func (e *AbsoluteError) Is(target error) bool {
-	var ce *AbsoluteError
+func (e AbsoluteError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("path %q is not absolute", string(e))
+}
+
+func (e AbsoluteError) Is(target error) bool {
+	var ce AbsoluteError
 	if !errors.As(target, &ce) {
 		return errors.Is(target, syscall.EINVAL)
 	}
-	return *e == *ce
+	return e == ce
 }
 
 // Absolute holds a pathname checked to be absolute.
@@ -59,7 +62,7 @@ func (a *Absolute) Is(v *Absolute) bool {
 // NewAbs checks pathname and returns a new [Absolute] if pathname is absolute.
 func NewAbs(pathname string) (*Absolute, error) {
 	if !path.IsAbs(pathname) {
-		return nil, &AbsoluteError{pathname}
+		return nil, AbsoluteError(pathname)
 	}
 	return unsafeAbs(pathname), nil
 }
@@ -90,7 +93,7 @@ func (a *Absolute) GobEncode() ([]byte, error) {
 func (a *Absolute) GobDecode(data []byte) error {
 	pathname := string(data)
 	if !path.IsAbs(pathname) {
-		return &AbsoluteError{pathname}
+		return AbsoluteError(pathname)
 	}
 	a.pathname = unique.Make(pathname)
 	return nil
@@ -108,7 +111,7 @@ func (a *Absolute) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	if !path.IsAbs(pathname) {
-		return &AbsoluteError{pathname}
+		return AbsoluteError(pathname)
 	}
 	a.pathname = unique.Make(pathname)
 	return nil
diff --git a/container/check/absolute_test.go b/container/check/absolute_test.go
index 107407f..25592a7 100644
--- a/container/check/absolute_test.go
+++ b/container/check/absolute_test.go
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ func TestAbsoluteError(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{"EINVAL", new(AbsoluteError), syscall.EINVAL, true},
 		{"not EINVAL", new(AbsoluteError), syscall.EBADE, false},
-		{"ne val", new(AbsoluteError), &AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc"}, false},
-		{"equals", &AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc"}, &AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc"}, true},
+		{"ne val", new(AbsoluteError), AbsoluteError("etc"), false},
+		{"equals", AbsoluteError("etc"), AbsoluteError("etc"), true},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func TestAbsoluteError(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Parallel()
 
 		want := `path "etc" is not absolute`
-		if got := (&AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc"}).Error(); got != want {
+		if got := (AbsoluteError("etc")).Error(); got != want {
 			t.Errorf("Error: %q, want %q", got, want)
 		}
 	})
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ func TestNewAbs(t *testing.T) {
 		wantErr  error
 	}{
 		{"good", "/etc", MustAbs("/etc"), nil},
-		{"not absolute", "etc", nil, &AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc"}},
-		{"zero", "", nil, &AbsoluteError{Pathname: ""}},
+		{"not absolute", "etc", nil, AbsoluteError("etc")},
+		{"zero", "", nil, AbsoluteError("")},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func TestNewAbs(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Parallel()
 
 		defer func() {
-			wantPanic := &AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc"}
+			wantPanic := AbsoluteError("etc")
 
 			if r := recover(); !reflect.DeepEqual(r, wantPanic) {
 				t.Errorf("MustAbs: panic = %v; want %v", r, wantPanic)
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ func TestCodecAbsolute(t *testing.T) {
 
 			`"/etc"`, `{"val":"/etc","magic":3236757504}`},
 		{"not absolute", nil,
-			&AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc"},
+			AbsoluteError("etc"),
 			"\t\x7f\x05\x01\x02\xff\x82\x00\x00\x00\a\xff\x80\x00\x03etc",
 			",\xff\x83\x03\x01\x01\x06sCheck\x01\xff\x84\x00\x01\x02\x01\bPathname\x01\xff\x80\x00\x01\x05Magic\x01\x06\x00\x00\x00\t\x7f\x05\x01\x02\xff\x82\x00\x00\x00\x0f\xff\x84\x01\x03etc\x01\xfb\x01\x81\xda\x00\x00\x00",
 
diff --git a/container/errors.go b/container/errors.go
index 2bcb497..d7651aa 100644
--- a/container/errors.go
+++ b/container/errors.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func messageFromError(err error) (m string, ok bool) {
 	if m, ok = messagePrefixP[os.PathError]("cannot ", err); ok {
 		return
 	}
-	if m, ok = messagePrefixP[check.AbsoluteError](zeroString, err); ok {
+	if m, ok = messagePrefix[check.AbsoluteError](zeroString, err); ok {
 		return
 	}
 	if m, ok = messagePrefix[OpRepeatError](zeroString, err); ok {
diff --git a/container/errors_test.go b/container/errors_test.go
index 5c55af4..71b4a9a 100644
--- a/container/errors_test.go
+++ b/container/errors_test.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func TestMessageFromError(t *testing.T) {
 			Err:  stub.UniqueError(0xdeadbeef),
 		}, "cannot mount /sysroot: unique error 3735928559 injected by the test suite", true},
 
-		{"absolute", &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc/mtab"},
+		{"absolute", check.AbsoluteError("etc/mtab"),
 			`path "etc/mtab" is not absolute`, true},
 
 		{"repeat", OpRepeatError("autoetc"),
diff --git a/container/initoverlay_test.go b/container/initoverlay_test.go
index 1c0e642..0ff3cb4 100644
--- a/container/initoverlay_test.go
+++ b/container/initoverlay_test.go
@@ -312,7 +312,10 @@ func TestMountOverlayOp(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		}},
 
-		{"ephemeral", new(Ops).OverlayEphemeral(check.MustAbs("/nix/store"), check.MustAbs("/mnt-root/nix/.ro-store")), Ops{
+		{"ephemeral", new(Ops).OverlayEphemeral(
+			check.MustAbs("/nix/store"),
+			check.MustAbs("/mnt-root/nix/.ro-store"),
+		), Ops{
 			&MountOverlayOp{
 				Target: check.MustAbs("/nix/store"),
 				Lower:  []*check.Absolute{check.MustAbs("/mnt-root/nix/.ro-store")},
@@ -320,7 +323,10 @@ func TestMountOverlayOp(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		}},
 
-		{"readonly", new(Ops).OverlayReadonly(check.MustAbs("/nix/store"), check.MustAbs("/mnt-root/nix/.ro-store")), Ops{
+		{"readonly", new(Ops).OverlayReadonly(
+			check.MustAbs("/nix/store"),
+			check.MustAbs("/mnt-root/nix/.ro-store"),
+		), Ops{
 			&MountOverlayOp{
 				Target: check.MustAbs("/nix/store"),
 				Lower:  []*check.Absolute{check.MustAbs("/mnt-root/nix/.ro-store")},
diff --git a/container/initsymlink.go b/container/initsymlink.go
index be0ce2a..df0ddc1 100644
--- a/container/initsymlink.go
+++ b/container/initsymlink.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func (l *SymlinkOp) Valid() bool { return l != nil && l.Target != nil && l.LinkN
 func (l *SymlinkOp) early(_ *setupState, k syscallDispatcher) error {
 	if l.Dereference {
 		if !path.IsAbs(l.LinkName) {
-			return &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: l.LinkName}
+			return check.AbsoluteError(l.LinkName)
 		}
 		if name, err := k.readlink(l.LinkName); err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/container/initsymlink_test.go b/container/initsymlink_test.go
index e260b51..86d0be1 100644
--- a/container/initsymlink_test.go
+++ b/container/initsymlink_test.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func TestSymlinkOp(t *testing.T) {
 			Target:      check.MustAbs("/etc/mtab"),
 			LinkName:    "etc/mtab",
 			Dereference: true,
-		}, nil, &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: "etc/mtab"}, nil, nil},
+		}, nil, check.AbsoluteError("etc/mtab"), nil, nil},
 
 		{"readlink", &Params{ParentPerm: 0755}, &SymlinkOp{
 			Target:      check.MustAbs("/etc/mtab"),
diff --git a/internal/outcome/sppulse_test.go b/internal/outcome/sppulse_test.go
index 70fae9e..f3f0635 100644
--- a/internal/outcome/sppulse_test.go
+++ b/internal/outcome/sppulse_test.go
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func TestSpPulseOp(t *testing.T) {
 			call("lookupEnv", stub.ExpectArgs{"PULSE_COOKIE"}, "proc/nonexistent/cookie", nil),
 		}, nil, nil, &hst.AppError{
 			Step: "locate PulseAudio cookie",
-			Err:  &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: "proc/nonexistent/cookie"},
+			Err:  check.AbsoluteError("proc/nonexistent/cookie"),
 		}, nil, nil, nil, nil, nil},
 
 		{"cookie loadFile", func(bool, bool) outcomeOp {
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ func TestDiscoverPulseCookie(t *testing.T) {
 			call("verbose", stub.ExpectArgs{[]any{(*check.Absolute)(nil)}}, nil, nil),
 		}}, &hst.AppError{
 			Step: "locate PulseAudio cookie",
-			Err:  &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: "proc/nonexistent/pulse-cookie"},
+			Err:  check.AbsoluteError("proc/nonexistent/pulse-cookie"),
 		}},
 
 		{"success override", fCheckPathname, stub.Expect{Calls: []stub.Call{
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ func TestDiscoverPulseCookie(t *testing.T) {
 			call("verbose", stub.ExpectArgs{[]any{(*check.Absolute)(nil)}}, nil, nil),
 		}}, &hst.AppError{
 			Step: "locate PulseAudio cookie",
-			Err:  &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: "proc/nonexistent/home"},
+			Err:  check.AbsoluteError("proc/nonexistent/home"),
 		}},
 
 		{"home stat", fCheckPathname, stub.Expect{Calls: []stub.Call{
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ func TestDiscoverPulseCookie(t *testing.T) {
 			call("verbose", stub.ExpectArgs{[]any{(*check.Absolute)(nil)}}, nil, nil),
 		}}, &hst.AppError{
 			Step: "locate PulseAudio cookie",
-			Err:  &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: "proc/nonexistent/xdg"},
+			Err:  check.AbsoluteError("proc/nonexistent/xdg"),
 		}},
 
 		{"xdg stat", fCheckPathname, stub.Expect{Calls: []stub.Call{
diff --git a/ldd/ldd_test.go b/ldd/ldd_test.go
index a994d33..77f20a6 100644
--- a/ldd/ldd_test.go
+++ b/ldd/ldd_test.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ libzstd.so.1 = /usr/lib/libzstd.so.1 (0x7ff71bfd2000)
 
 		{"path not absolute", `
 libzstd.so.1 => usr/lib/libzstd.so.1 (0x7ff71bfd2000)
-`, &check.AbsoluteError{Pathname: "usr/lib/libzstd.so.1"}},
+`, check.AbsoluteError("usr/lib/libzstd.so.1")},
 
 		{"unexpected segments", `
 meow libzstd.so.1 => /usr/lib/libzstd.so.1 (0x7ff71bfd2000)