diff --git a/common/include/villas/cpuset.hpp b/common/include/villas/cpuset.hpp
index e8f67c868..c738d1e29 100644
--- a/common/include/villas/cpuset.hpp
+++ b/common/include/villas/cpuset.hpp
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public:
 
 		setp = CPU_ALLOC(num_cpus);
 		if (!setp)
-			throw villas::RuntimeError("Failed to allocated memory");
+			throw MemoryAllocationError();
 
 		zero();
 	}
diff --git a/common/include/villas/exceptions.hpp b/common/include/villas/exceptions.hpp
index 632b2f20d..db5125254 100644
--- a/common/include/villas/exceptions.hpp
+++ b/common/include/villas/exceptions.hpp
@@ -62,6 +62,14 @@ public:
 	{ }
 };
 
+class MemoryAllocationError : public RuntimeError {
+
+public:
+	MemoryAllocationError() :
+		RuntimeError("Failed to allocate memory")
+	{ }
+};
+
 class JsonError : public std::runtime_error {
 
 protected:
diff --git a/common/lib/advio.cpp b/common/lib/advio.cpp
index df5382b1c..d3be3bb5c 100644
--- a/common/lib/advio.cpp
+++ b/common/lib/advio.cpp
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ AFILE * afopen(const char *uri, const char *mode)
 
 	AFILE *af = new AFILE;
 	if (!af)
-		throw RuntimeError("Failed to allocate memory!");
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
 
 	memset(af, 0, sizeof(AFILE));
 
diff --git a/common/lib/buffer.cpp b/common/lib/buffer.cpp
index 564e9f10b..f2d5c6a07 100644
--- a/common/lib/buffer.cpp
+++ b/common/lib/buffer.cpp
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ Buffer::Buffer(size_t sz) :
 {
 	buf = new char[size];
 	if (!buf)
-		throw RuntimeError("Failed to allocate memory");
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
 
 	memset(buf, 0, size);
 }
diff --git a/common/lib/hist.cpp b/common/lib/hist.cpp
index dc08fdc7c..8d7b1be2e 100644
--- a/common/lib/hist.cpp
+++ b/common/lib/hist.cpp
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ char * Hist::dump() const
 {
 	char *buf = new char[128];
 	if (!buf)
-		throw RuntimeError("Failed to allocate memory!");
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
 
 	memset(buf, 0, 128);
 
diff --git a/common/lib/kernel/vfio.cpp b/common/lib/kernel/vfio.cpp
index f01491f1f..c29373c4a 100644
--- a/common/lib/kernel/vfio.cpp
+++ b/common/lib/kernel/vfio.cpp
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ Container::~Container()
 std::shared_ptr<Container>
 Container::create()
 {
-	std::shared_ptr<Container> container { new Container };
+	std::shared_ptr<Container> container(new Container);
 
 	return container;
 }
@@ -549,6 +549,9 @@ Device::pciHotReset()
 	                             sizeof(struct vfio_pci_dependent_device) * 64;
 
 	auto *reset_info_buf = new char[reset_info_len];
+	if (!reset_info_buf)
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
+
 	auto *reset_info = reinterpret_cast<struct vfio_pci_hot_reset_info *>(reset_info_buf);
 
 	reset_info->argsz = reset_info_len;
@@ -577,6 +580,9 @@ Device::pciHotReset()
 	const size_t reset_len = sizeof(struct vfio_pci_hot_reset) +
 	                        sizeof(int32_t) * 1;
 	auto *reset_buf = new char[reset_len];
+	if (!reset_buf)
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
+
 	auto *reset = reinterpret_cast<struct vfio_pci_hot_reset*>(reset_buf);
 
 	reset->argsz = reset_len;
@@ -609,9 +615,10 @@ Device::pciMsiInit(int efds[])
 	                          sizeof(int) * irqCount;
 
 	auto *irqSetBuf = new char[irqSetSize];
+	if (!irqSetBuf)
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
+
 	auto *irqSet = reinterpret_cast<struct vfio_irq_set*>(irqSetBuf);
-	if (irqSet == nullptr)
-		return -1;
 
 	irqSet->argsz = irqSetSize;
 	irqSet->flags = VFIO_IRQ_SET_DATA_EVENTFD | VFIO_IRQ_SET_ACTION_TRIGGER;
@@ -653,9 +660,10 @@ Device::pciMsiDeinit(int efds[])
 	                            sizeof(int) * irqCount;
 
 	auto *irqSetBuf = new char[irqSetSize];
+	if (!irqSetBuf)
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
+
 	auto *irqSet = reinterpret_cast<struct vfio_irq_set*>(irqSetBuf);
-	if (irqSet == nullptr)
-		return -1;
 
 	irqSet->argsz = irqSetSize;
 	irqSet->flags = VFIO_IRQ_SET_DATA_EVENTFD | VFIO_IRQ_SET_ACTION_TRIGGER;
diff --git a/common/lib/memory_manager.cpp b/common/lib/memory_manager.cpp
index aff256b72..a45357379 100644
--- a/common/lib/memory_manager.cpp
+++ b/common/lib/memory_manager.cpp
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@
 #include <limits>
 #include <cstdint>
 
+#include <villas/exceptions.hpp>
 #include <villas/utils.hpp>
 #include <villas/memory_manager.hpp>
 
+using namespace villas;
 using namespace villas::utils;
 
 namespace villas {
@@ -39,6 +41,8 @@ MemoryManager::get()
 {
 	if (instance == nullptr) {
 		instance = new MemoryManager;
+		if (!instance)
+			throw MemoryAllocationError();
 	}
 
 	return *instance;
diff --git a/common/lib/utils.cpp b/common/lib/utils.cpp
index e8b8878e3..fa95a9a80 100644
--- a/common/lib/utils.cpp
+++ b/common/lib/utils.cpp
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ void * memdup(const void *src, size_t bytes)
 {
 	void *dst = new char[bytes];
 	if (!dst)
-		throw RuntimeError("Failed to allocate memory!");
+		throw MemoryAllocationError();
 
 	memcpy(dst, src, bytes);
 
diff --git a/common/tests/unit/list.cpp b/common/tests/unit/list.cpp
index 373dc3620..d51e0ede3 100644
--- a/common/tests/unit/list.cpp
+++ b/common/tests/unit/list.cpp
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ Test(list, vlist_lookup)
 	for (unsigned i = 0; i < ARRAY_LEN(nouns); i++) {
 		struct data *d = new struct data;
 		if (!d)
-			throw RuntimeError("Failed to allocate memory!");
+			throw MemoryAllocationError();
 
 		d->tag = nouns[i];
 		d->data = i;