diff --git a/certs/extract-cert.c b/certs/extract-cert.c
index 8e7ba9974a1f..61bbe0085671 100644
--- a/certs/extract-cert.c
+++ b/certs/extract-cert.c
@@ -99,11 +99,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		parms.cert = NULL;
 
 		ENGINE_load_builtin_engines();
-		drain_openssl_errors();
+		drain_openssl_errors(__LINE__, 1);
 		e = ENGINE_by_id("pkcs11");
 		ERR(!e, "Load PKCS#11 ENGINE");
 		if (ENGINE_init(e))
-			drain_openssl_errors();
+			drain_openssl_errors(__LINE__, 1);
 		else
 			ERR(1, "ENGINE_init");
 		if (key_pass)
diff --git a/scripts/sign-file.c b/scripts/sign-file.c
index 39ba58db5d4e..bb3fdf1a617c 100644
--- a/scripts/sign-file.c
+++ b/scripts/sign-file.c
@@ -114,11 +114,11 @@ static EVP_PKEY *read_private_key(const char *private_key_name)
 		ENGINE *e;
 
 		ENGINE_load_builtin_engines();
-		drain_openssl_errors();
+		drain_openssl_errors(__LINE__, 1);
 		e = ENGINE_by_id("pkcs11");
 		ERR(!e, "Load PKCS#11 ENGINE");
 		if (ENGINE_init(e))
-			drain_openssl_errors();
+			drain_openssl_errors(__LINE__, 1);
 		else
 			ERR(1, "ENGINE_init");
 		if (key_pass)
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 		/* Digest the module data. */
 		OpenSSL_add_all_digests();
-		display_openssl_errors(__LINE__);
+		drain_openssl_errors(__LINE__, 0);
 		digest_algo = EVP_get_digestbyname(hash_algo);
 		ERR(!digest_algo, "EVP_get_digestbyname");
 
diff --git a/scripts/ssl-common.h b/scripts/ssl-common.h
index e6711c75ed91..2db0e181143c 100644
--- a/scripts/ssl-common.h
+++ b/scripts/ssl-common.h
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  * SSL helper functions shared by sign-file and extract-cert.
  */
 
-static void display_openssl_errors(int l)
+static void drain_openssl_errors(int l, int silent)
 {
 	const char *file;
 	char buf[120];
@@ -11,28 +11,21 @@ static void display_openssl_errors(int l)
 
 	if (ERR_peek_error() == 0)
 		return;
-	fprintf(stderr, "At main.c:%d:\n", l);
+	if (!silent)
+		fprintf(stderr, "At main.c:%d:\n", l);
 
-	while ((e = ERR_get_error_line(&file, &line))) {
+	while ((e = ERR_peek_error_line(&file, &line))) {
 		ERR_error_string(e, buf);
-		fprintf(stderr, "- SSL %s: %s:%d\n", buf, file, line);
+		if (!silent)
+			fprintf(stderr, "- SSL %s: %s:%d\n", buf, file, line);
+		ERR_get_error();
 	}
 }
 
-static void drain_openssl_errors(void)
-{
-	const char *file;
-	int line;
-
-	if (ERR_peek_error() == 0)
-		return;
-	while (ERR_get_error_line(&file, &line)) {}
-}
-
 #define ERR(cond, fmt, ...)				\
 	do {						\
 		bool __cond = (cond);			\
-		display_openssl_errors(__LINE__);	\
+		drain_openssl_errors(__LINE__, 0);	\
 		if (__cond) {				\
 			errx(1, fmt, ## __VA_ARGS__);	\
 		}					\