diff --git a/merr/merr.go b/merr/merr.go
index f109a39..629f1d8 100644
--- a/merr/merr.go
+++ b/merr/merr.go
@@ -13,22 +13,10 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"strings"
-	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/mediocregopher/mediocre-go-lib/v2/mctx"
 )
 
-var strBuilderPool = sync.Pool{
-	New: func() interface{} { return new(strings.Builder) },
-}
-
-func putStrBuilder(sb *strings.Builder) {
-	sb.Reset()
-	strBuilderPool.Put(sb)
-}
-
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-
 type annotateKey string
 
 // Error wraps an error such that contextual and stacktrace information is
@@ -62,7 +50,7 @@ func (e Error) FullError() string {
 		sb.WriteString(": ")
 
 		// if there's no newlines then print v inline with k
-		if strings.Index(v, "\n") < 0 {
+		if strings.Contains(v, "\n") {
 			sb.WriteString(v)
 			continue
 		}
@@ -111,6 +99,7 @@ func Wrap(ctx context.Context, err error) error {
 }
 
 // New is a shortcut for:
+//
 //	merr.WrapSkip(ctx, errors.New(str), 1)
 func New(ctx context.Context, str string) error {
 	return WrapSkip(ctx, errors.New(str), 1)
diff --git a/mlog/mlog.go b/mlog/mlog.go
index a6b358b..bd1e26e 100644
--- a/mlog/mlog.go
+++ b/mlog/mlog.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ package mlog
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
-	"io/ioutil"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ type mlogAnnotation string
 
 // Null is an instance of Logger which will write all Messages to /dev/null.
 var Null = NewLogger(&LoggerOpts{
-	MessageHandler: NewMessageHandler(ioutil.Discard),
+	MessageHandler: NewMessageHandler(io.Discard),
 })
 
 // Truncate is a helper function to truncate a string to a given size. It will
@@ -239,7 +239,9 @@ func (l *Logger) Log(msg Message) {
 	}
 
 	if msg.Level.Int() < 0 {
-		l.opts.MessageHandler.Sync()
+		if err := l.opts.MessageHandler.Sync(); err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }