diff --git a/lib/client/client.c b/lib/client/client.c
index 3b69f387..f368da44 100644
--- a/lib/client/client.c
+++ b/lib/client/client.c
@@ -82,7 +82,10 @@ lws_client_socket_service(struct lws_context *context, struct lws *wsi,
 			  struct lws_pollfd *pollfd)
 {
 	struct lws_context_per_thread *pt = &context->pt[(int)wsi->tsi];
-	char *p = (char *)&pt->serv_buf[0], ebuf[128];
+	char *p = (char *)&pt->serv_buf[0];
+#if defined(LWS_OPENSSL_SUPPORT)
+	char ebuf[128];
+#endif
 	const char *cce = NULL;
 	unsigned char c;
 	char *sb = p;
diff --git a/lib/libwebsockets.h b/lib/libwebsockets.h
index a03928d6..fa05e53f 100644
--- a/lib/libwebsockets.h
+++ b/lib/libwebsockets.h
@@ -4827,6 +4827,23 @@ lws_write(struct lws *wsi, unsigned char *buf, size_t len,
 /* helper for case where buffer may be const */
 #define lws_write_http(wsi, buf, len) \
 	lws_write(wsi, (unsigned char *)(buf), len, LWS_WRITE_HTTP)
+
+/* helper for multi-frame ws message flags */
+static inline int
+lws_write_ws_flags(int initial, int is_start, int is_end)
+{
+	int r;
+
+	if (is_start)
+		r = initial;
+	else
+		r = LWS_WRITE_CONTINUATION;
+
+	if (!is_end)
+		r |= LWS_WRITE_NO_FIN;
+
+	return r;
+}
 ///@}
 
 /** \defgroup callback-when-writeable Callback when writeable
diff --git a/minimal-examples/ws-server/minimal-ws-server-pmd-bulk/protocol_lws_minimal_pmd_bulk.c b/minimal-examples/ws-server/minimal-ws-server-pmd-bulk/protocol_lws_minimal_pmd_bulk.c
index 76e2f09c..7f7499cc 100644
--- a/minimal-examples/ws-server/minimal-ws-server-pmd-bulk/protocol_lws_minimal_pmd_bulk.c
+++ b/minimal-examples/ws-server/minimal-ws-server-pmd-bulk/protocol_lws_minimal_pmd_bulk.c
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ callback_minimal_pmd_bulk(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason,
 {
 	struct per_session_data__minimal_pmd_bulk *pss =
 			(struct per_session_data__minimal_pmd_bulk *)user;
-	uint8_t buf[LWS_PRE + MESSAGE_CHUNK_SIZE], *p;
-	int n, m, msg_flag;
+	uint8_t buf[LWS_PRE + MESSAGE_CHUNK_SIZE], *start = &buf[LWS_PRE], *p;
+	int n, m, flags;
 
 	switch (reason) {
 	case LWS_CALLBACK_ESTABLISHED:
@@ -80,17 +80,16 @@ callback_minimal_pmd_bulk(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason,
 		if (pss->position == MESSAGE_SIZE)
 			break;
 
-		if (!pss->position)
-			msg_flag = LWS_WRITE_TEXT;
-		else
-			msg_flag = LWS_WRITE_CONTINUATION;
-
 		/* fill up one chunk's worth of message content */
 
-		p = &buf[LWS_PRE];
+		p = start;
 		n = MESSAGE_CHUNK_SIZE;
 		if (n > MESSAGE_SIZE - pss->position)
 			n = MESSAGE_SIZE - pss->position;
+
+		flags = lws_write_ws_flags(LWS_WRITE_TEXT, !pss->position,
+					   pss->position + n == MESSAGE_SIZE);
+
 		/*
 		 * select between producing compressible repeated text,
 		 * or uncompressible PRNG output
@@ -115,11 +114,9 @@ callback_minimal_pmd_bulk(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason,
 			*p++ = 0x40 + ((pss->rng >> (n & 15)) & 0x3f);
 		}
 #endif
-		if (pss->position != MESSAGE_SIZE) /* if not the end, no FIN */
-			msg_flag |= LWS_WRITE_NO_FIN;
 
-		n = lws_ptr_diff(p, &buf[LWS_PRE]);
-		m = lws_write(wsi, &buf[LWS_PRE], n, msg_flag);
+		n = lws_ptr_diff(p, start);
+		m = lws_write(wsi, start, n, flags);
 		if (m < n) {
 			lwsl_err("ERROR %d writing ws\n", n);
 			return -1;
diff --git a/plugins/protocol_lws_status.c b/plugins/protocol_lws_status.c
index edd53413..1475e2c5 100644
--- a/plugins/protocol_lws_status.c
+++ b/plugins/protocol_lws_status.c
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ callback_lws_status(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason,
 	case LWS_CALLBACK_SERVER_WRITEABLE:
 		switch (pss->walk) {
 		case WALK_INITIAL:
-			n = LWS_WRITE_TEXT | LWS_WRITE_NO_FIN;;
+			n = LWS_WRITE_TEXT | LWS_WRITE_NO_FIN;
 			p += lws_snprintf(p, end - p,
 				      "{ \"version\":\"%s\","
 				      " \"wss_over_h2\":\"%d\","
diff --git a/test-apps/test-echo.c b/test-apps/test-echo.c
index 3d3b1fff..5076b34c 100644
--- a/test-apps/test-echo.c
+++ b/test-apps/test-echo.c
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ callback_echo(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason, void *user,
 {
 	struct per_session_data__echo *pss =
 			(struct per_session_data__echo *)user;
-	int n;
+	int n, flags;
 
 	switch (reason) {
 
@@ -75,29 +75,19 @@ callback_echo(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason, void *user,
 do_tx:
 		if ((int)pss->len == -1)
 			break;
-		n = LWS_WRITE_CONTINUATION;
-		if (!pss->continuation) {
-			if (pss->binary)
-				n = LWS_WRITE_BINARY;
-			else
-				n = LWS_WRITE_TEXT;
-			pss->continuation = 1;
-		}
-		if (!pss->final)
-			n |= LWS_WRITE_NO_FIN;
+
+		flags = lws_write_ws_flags(pss->binary ? LWS_WRITE_BINARY :
+				LWS_WRITE_TEXT, pss->continuation, pss->final);
+
 		lwsl_info("+++ test-echo: writing %d, with final %d\n",
 			  pss->len, pss->final);
 
 		pss->tx += pss->len;
-		n = lws_write(wsi, &pss->buf[LWS_PRE], pss->len, n);
+		n = lws_write(wsi, &pss->buf[LWS_PRE], pss->len, flags);
 		if (n < 0) {
 			lwsl_err("ERROR %d writing to socket, hanging up\n", n);
 			return 1;
 		}
-		if (n < (int)pss->len) {
-			lwsl_err("Partial write\n");
-			return -1;
-		}
 		pss->len = -1;
 		if (pss->final)
 			pss->continuation = 0;
diff --git a/test-apps/test-fraggle.c b/test-apps/test-fraggle.c
index d98e8b32..c234c00c 100644
--- a/test-apps/test-fraggle.c
+++ b/test-apps/test-fraggle.c
@@ -55,15 +55,11 @@ static int
 callback_fraggle(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason,
 		 void *user, void *in, size_t len)
 {
-	int n;
-	unsigned char buf[LWS_PRE + 8000];
+	unsigned char buf[LWS_PRE + 8000], *bp = &buf[LWS_PRE];
 	struct per_session_data__fraggle *psf = user;
-	int chunk;
-	int write_mode = LWS_WRITE_CONTINUATION;
-	unsigned long sum;
 	unsigned char *p = (unsigned char *)in;
-	unsigned char *bp = &buf[LWS_PRE];
-	int ran;
+	int n, chunk, flags, ran;
+	unsigned long sum;
 
 	switch (reason) {
 
@@ -138,7 +134,6 @@ callback_fraggle(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason,
 							     psf->packets_left);
 			psf->sum = 0;
 			psf->total_message = 0;
-			write_mode = LWS_WRITE_BINARY;
 			psf->state = FRAGSTATE_RANDOM_PAYLOAD;
 
 			/* fallthru */
@@ -160,18 +155,14 @@ callback_fraggle(struct lws *wsi, enum lws_callback_reasons reason,
 				psf->sum += bp[n];
 
 			psf->packets_left--;
-			if (psf->packets_left)
-				write_mode |= LWS_WRITE_NO_FIN;
-			else
+			flags = lws_write_ws_flags(LWS_WRITE_BINARY, !psf->sum,
+						   !psf->packets_left);
+			if (!psf->packets_left)
 				psf->state = FRAGSTATE_POST_PAYLOAD_SUM;
 
-			n = lws_write(wsi, bp, chunk, write_mode);
+			n = lws_write(wsi, bp, chunk, flags);
 			if (n < 0)
 				return -1;
-			if (n < chunk) {
-				lwsl_err("Partial write\n");
-				return -1;
-			}
 
 			lws_callback_on_writable(wsi);
 			break;