diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/dune b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/dune
index 971c2b3426b..80103ece943 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/dune
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/dune
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
   (modes exe)
   (name rrdp_dcmi)
   (libraries
-    
     rrdd-plugin
+    rrdd-plugin.base
     rrdd_plugins_libs
     xapi-idl.rrd
     xapi-log
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/rrdp_dcmi.ml b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/rrdp_dcmi.ml
index 03afac48bc7..683e1174b8d 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/rrdp_dcmi.ml
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-dcmi/rrdp_dcmi.ml
@@ -27,31 +27,49 @@ let ipmitool_bin = "/usr/bin/ipmitool"
 
 let ipmitool args =
   (* we connect to the local /dev/ipmi0 if available to read measurements from local BMC *)
-  ipmitool_bin :: "-I" :: "open" :: args |> String.concat " "
+  ipmitool_bin :: args |> String.concat " "
+
+type discovery_error = Devices_missing
+
+let discovery_error_to_string = function
+  | Devices_missing ->
+      "IPMI devices are missing"
 
 let discover () =
+  let read_out_line line =
+    (* this code runs once on startup, logging all the output here will be useful for debugging *)
+    D.debug "DCMI discover: %s" line ;
+    let line = String.trim line in
+    if String.equal line "Power management available" then
+      Some ()
+    else
+      None
+  in
+  let read_err_line line =
+    (* this code runs once on startup, logging all the output here will be useful for debugging *)
+    D.debug "DCMI discover: %s" line ;
+    let line = String.trim line in
+    if String.starts_with ~prefix:"Could not open device at" line then
+      Some Devices_missing
+    else
+      None
+  in
   Utils.exec_cmd
     (module Process.D)
     ~cmdstring:(ipmitool ["dcmi"; "discover"])
-    ~f:(fun line ->
-      (* this code runs once on startup, logging all the output here will be useful for debugging *)
-      D.debug "DCMI discover: %s" line ;
-      if String.trim line = "Power management available" then
-        Some ()
-      else
-        None
-    )
+    ~read_out_line ~read_err_line
 
 let get_dcmi_power_reading () =
+  let read_out_line line =
+    (* example line: '     Instantaneous power reading:                    34 Watts' *)
+    try Scanf.sscanf line " Instantaneous power reading : %f Watts" Option.some
+    with _ -> None
+  in
+  let read_err_line _ = None in
   Utils.exec_cmd
     (module Process.D)
     ~cmdstring:(ipmitool ["dcmi"; "power"; "reading"])
-    ~f:(fun line ->
-      (* example line: '     Instantaneous power reading:                    34 Watts' *)
-      try
-        Scanf.sscanf line " Instantaneous power reading : %f Watts" Option.some
-      with Scanf.Scan_failure _ | End_of_file -> None
-    )
+    ~read_out_line ~read_err_line
 
 let gen_dcmi_power_reading value =
   ( Rrd.Host
@@ -63,7 +81,7 @@ let gen_dcmi_power_reading value =
 
 let generate_dss () =
   match get_dcmi_power_reading () with
-  | watts :: _ ->
+  | watts :: _, _ ->
       [gen_dcmi_power_reading watts]
   | _ ->
       []
@@ -71,10 +89,15 @@ let generate_dss () =
 let _ =
   initialise () ;
   match discover () with
-  | [] ->
-      D.info "IPMI DCMI power reading is unavailable" ;
-      exit 1
-  | _ ->
+  | () :: _, _ ->
       D.info "IPMI DCMI power reading is available" ;
       main_loop ~neg_shift:0.5 ~target:(Reporter.Local 1)
         ~protocol:Rrd_interface.V2 ~dss_f:generate_dss
+  | [], errs ->
+      let reason =
+        List.nth_opt errs 0
+        |> Option.map discovery_error_to_string
+        |> Option.value ~default:"unknown"
+      in
+      D.warn "IPMI DCMI power readings not available, stopping. Reason: %s"
+        reason
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/dune b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/dune
index 03f7b00a5fc..4ba37845e27 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/dune
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/dune
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     mtime
     mtime.clock.os
     rrdd-plugin
+    rrdd-plugin.base
     rrdd_plugin_xenctrl
     rrdd_plugins_libs
     str
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/rrdp_iostat.ml b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/rrdp_iostat.ml
index 057d6e9dc47..0f547015304 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/rrdp_iostat.ml
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-iostat/rrdp_iostat.ml
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ module Iostat = struct
 
     (* Keep track of how many results headers we've seen so far *)
     let parsing_section = ref 0 in
-    let process_line str =
+    let read_out_line str =
       let res = Utils.cut str in
       (* Keep values from the second set of outputs *)
       ( if !parsing_section = 2 then
@@ -151,7 +151,10 @@ module Iostat = struct
     (* 2 iterations; 1 second between them *)
 
     (* Iterate through each line and populate dev_values_map *)
-    let _ = Utils.exec_cmd (module Process.D) ~cmdstring ~f:process_line in
+    let read_err_line _ = None in
+    let _ =
+      Utils.exec_cmd (module Process.D) ~cmdstring ~read_out_line ~read_err_line
+    in
 
     (* Now read the values out of dev_values_map for devices for which we have data *)
     List.filter_map
@@ -341,7 +344,7 @@ let exec_tap_ctl_list () : ((string * string) * int) list =
         D.error "Could not find device with physical path %s" phypath ;
         None
   in
-  let process_line str =
+  let read_out_line str =
     try Scanf.sscanf str "pid=%d minor=%d state=%s args=%s@:%s" extract_vdis
     with Scanf.Scan_failure _ | Failure _ | End_of_file ->
       D.warn {|"%s" returned a line that could not be parsed. Ignoring.|}
@@ -349,8 +352,11 @@ let exec_tap_ctl_list () : ((string * string) * int) list =
       D.warn "Offending line: %s" str ;
       None
   in
-  let pid_and_minor_to_sr_and_vdi =
-    Utils.exec_cmd (module Process.D) ~cmdstring:tap_ctl ~f:process_line
+  let read_err_line _ = None in
+  let pid_and_minor_to_sr_and_vdi, _ =
+    Utils.exec_cmd
+      (module Process.D)
+      ~cmdstring:tap_ctl ~read_out_line ~read_err_line
   in
   let sr_and_vdi_to_minor =
     List.map
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/dune b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/dune
index 8eb5191fbd6..b5f834eaae3 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/dune
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/dune
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
   (modes exe)
   (name rrdp_xenpm)
   (libraries
-    
     rrdd-plugin
+    rrdd-plugin.base
     rrdd_plugins_libs
     str
     xapi-idl.rrd
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/rrdp_xenpm.ml b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/rrdp_xenpm.ml
index 6ce1aeb525b..ccbe832b247 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/rrdp_xenpm.ml
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/bin/rrdp-xenpm/rrdp_xenpm.ml
@@ -57,27 +57,30 @@ let gen_pm_cpu_averages cpu_id time =
 
 let get_cpu_averages () : int64 list =
   let pattern = Str.regexp "average cpu frequency:[ \t]+\\([0-9]+\\)[ \t]*$" in
-  let match_fun s =
+  let read_out_line s =
     if Str.string_match pattern s 0 then
       Some (Int64.of_string (Str.matched_group 1 s))
     else
       None
   in
+  let read_err_line _ = None in
   Utils.exec_cmd
     (module Process.D)
     ~cmdstring:(Printf.sprintf "%s %s" xenpm_bin "get-cpufreq-average")
-    ~f:match_fun
+    ~read_out_line ~read_err_line
+  |> fst
 
 let get_states cpu_state : int64 list =
   let pattern =
     Str.regexp "[ \t]*residency[ \t]+\\[[ \t]*\\([0-9]+\\) ms\\][ \t]*"
   in
-  let match_fun s =
+  let read_out_line s =
     if Str.string_match pattern s 0 then
       Some (Int64.of_string (Str.matched_group 1 s))
     else
       None
   in
+  let read_err_line _ = None in
   Utils.exec_cmd
     (module Process.D)
     ~cmdstring:
@@ -89,7 +92,8 @@ let get_states cpu_state : int64 list =
              "get-cpufreq-states"
          )
       )
-    ~f:match_fun
+    ~read_out_line ~read_err_line
+  |> fst
 
 (* list_package [1;2;3;4] 2 = [[1;2];[3;4]] *)
 let list_package (l : 'a list) (n : int) : 'a list list =
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/rrdd_plugin.mli b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/rrdd_plugin.mli
index a237868c873..04f431992f2 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/rrdd_plugin.mli
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/rrdd_plugin.mli
@@ -14,31 +14,6 @@
 
 (** Library to simplify writing an rrdd plugin. *)
 
-(** Utility functions useful for rrdd plugins. *)
-module Utils : sig
-  val now : unit -> float
-  (** Return the current unix epoch as an int64. *)
-
-  val cut : string -> string list
-  (** Split a string into a list of strings as separated by spaces and/or
-      	    tabs. *)
-
-  val list_directory_unsafe : string -> string list
-  (** List the contents of a directory, including . and .. *)
-
-  val list_directory_entries_unsafe : string -> string list
-  (** List the contents of a directory, not including . and .. *)
-
-  val exec_cmd :
-       (module Debug.DEBUG)
-    -> cmdstring:string
-    -> f:(string -> 'a option)
-    -> 'a list
-  (** [exec_cmd cmd f] executes [cmd], applies [f] on each of the lines which
-      	    [cmd] outputs on stdout, and returns a list of resulting values for which
-      	    applying [f] returns [Some value]. *)
-end
-
 (** Asynchronous interface to create, cancel and query the state of stats
     reporting threads. *)
 module Reporter : sig
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.ml b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.ml
index 1f0f6f153e9..8046bb9c9db 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.ml
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.ml
@@ -33,10 +33,15 @@ let list_directory_entries_unsafe dir =
   let dirlist = list_directory_unsafe dir in
   List.filter (fun x -> x <> "." && x <> "..") dirlist
 
-let exec_cmd (module D : Debug.DEBUG) ~cmdstring ~(f : string -> 'a option) =
+let protect ~finally fn = Xapi_stdext_pervasives.Pervasiveext.finally fn finally
+
+let exec_cmd (module D : Debug.DEBUG) ~cmdstring
+    ~(read_out_line : string -> 'a option) ~(read_err_line : string -> 'b option)
+    =
   D.debug "Forking command %s" cmdstring ;
-  (* create pipe for reading from the command's output *)
+  (* create pipes for reading from the command's output *)
   let out_readme, out_writeme = Unix.pipe () in
+  let err_readme, err_writeme = Unix.pipe () in
   let cmd, args =
     match Astring.String.cuts ~empty:false ~sep:" " cmdstring with
     | [] ->
@@ -45,19 +50,21 @@ let exec_cmd (module D : Debug.DEBUG) ~cmdstring ~(f : string -> 'a option) =
         (h, t)
   in
   let pid =
-    Forkhelpers.safe_close_and_exec None (Some out_writeme) None [] cmd args
+    Forkhelpers.safe_close_and_exec None (Some out_writeme) (Some err_writeme)
+      [] cmd args
   in
   Unix.close out_writeme ;
-  let in_channel = Unix.in_channel_of_descr out_readme in
-  let vals = ref [] in
-  let rec loop () =
-    let line = input_line in_channel in
-    let ret = f line in
-    (match ret with None -> () | Some v -> vals := v :: !vals) ;
-    loop ()
+  Unix.close err_writeme ;
+
+  let read_and_close f fd =
+    let in_channel = Unix.in_channel_of_descr fd in
+    let f acc line = match f line with None -> acc | Some v -> v :: acc in
+    protect
+      ~finally:(fun () -> Unix.close fd)
+      (fun () -> Xapi_stdext_unix.Unixext.lines_fold f [] in_channel |> List.rev)
   in
-  (try loop () with End_of_file -> ()) ;
-  Unix.close out_readme ;
+  let stdout = read_and_close read_out_line out_readme in
+  let stderr = read_and_close read_err_line err_readme in
   let pid, status = Forkhelpers.waitpid pid in
   ( match status with
   | Unix.WEXITED n ->
@@ -67,4 +74,4 @@ let exec_cmd (module D : Debug.DEBUG) ~cmdstring ~(f : string -> 'a option) =
   | Unix.WSTOPPED s ->
       D.debug "Process %d was stopped by signal %a" pid Debug.Pp.signal s
   ) ;
-  List.rev !vals
+  (stdout, stderr)
diff --git a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.mli b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.mli
index c13901ff5fe..6476eadddcb 100644
--- a/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.mli
+++ b/ocaml/xcp-rrdd/lib/plugin/utils.mli
@@ -27,7 +27,13 @@ val list_directory_entries_unsafe : string -> string list
 (** List the contents of a directory, not including . and .. *)
 
 val exec_cmd :
-  (module Debug.DEBUG) -> cmdstring:string -> f:(string -> 'a option) -> 'a list
-(** [exec_cmd cmd f] executes [cmd], applies [f] on each of the lines which
-      	    [cmd] outputs on stdout, and returns a list of resulting values for which
-      	    applying [f] returns [Some value]. *)
+     (module Debug.DEBUG)
+  -> cmdstring:string
+  -> read_out_line:(string -> 'a option)
+  -> read_err_line:(string -> 'b option)
+  -> 'a list * 'b list
+(** [exec_cmd cmd out_line err_line] executes [cmd], applies [read_out_line] to
+    each of the lines which [cmd] outputs on stdout, applies [read_err_line] to
+    each of the lines which [cmd] outputs on stderr, and returns a tuple of
+    list with each of the values that the [read_out_line] and [read_err_line]
+    returned [Some value]. *)