diff --git a/commands/convert.go b/commands/convert.go
index 56f67f8dc..6e5b5be85 100644
--- a/commands/convert.go
+++ b/commands/convert.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 package commands
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"time"
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ func convertContents(mark rune) (err error) {
 		panic("site.Source not set")
 	}
 	if len(site.Source.Files()) < 1 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("No source files found")
+		return errors.New("No source files found")
 	}
 
 	contentDir := helpers.AbsPathify(viper.GetString("contentDir"))
diff --git a/commands/undraft.go b/commands/undraft.go
index 5a1ae67a6..72f5b677d 100644
--- a/commands/undraft.go
+++ b/commands/undraft.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ package commands
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"fmt"
+	"errors"
 	"os"
 	"time"
 
@@ -90,8 +90,7 @@ func undraftContent(p parser.Page) (bytes.Buffer, error) {
 	// Front Matter
 	fm := p.FrontMatter()
 	if fm == nil {
-		err := fmt.Errorf("Front Matter was found, nothing was finalized")
-		return buff, err
+		return buff, errors.New("Front Matter was found, nothing was finalized")
 	}
 
 	var isDraft, gotDate bool
@@ -101,7 +100,7 @@ L:
 		switch k {
 		case "draft":
 			if !v.(bool) {
-				return buff, fmt.Errorf("not a Draft: nothing was done")
+				return buff, errors.New("not a Draft: nothing was done")
 			}
 			isDraft = true
 			if gotDate {
@@ -118,7 +117,7 @@ L:
 
 	// if draft wasn't found in FrontMatter, it isn't a draft.
 	if !isDraft {
-		return buff, fmt.Errorf("not a Draft: nothing was done")
+		return buff, errors.New("not a Draft: nothing was done")
 	}
 
 	// get the front matter as bytes and split it into lines
@@ -127,7 +126,7 @@ L:
 	if len(fmLines) == 1 { // if the result is only 1 element, try to split on dos line endings
 		fmLines = bytes.Split(fm, []byte("\r\n"))
 		if len(fmLines) == 1 {
-			return buff, fmt.Errorf("unable to split FrontMatter into lines")
+			return buff, errors.New("unable to split FrontMatter into lines")
 		}
 		lineEnding = append(lineEnding, []byte("\r\n")...)
 	} else {
diff --git a/hugolib/page.go b/hugolib/page.go
index 7405c772d..ed333deb9 100644
--- a/hugolib/page.go
+++ b/hugolib/page.go
@@ -898,7 +898,7 @@ var ErrHasDraftAndPublished = errors.New("both draft and published parameters we
 
 func (p *Page) update(f interface{}) error {
 	if f == nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("no metadata found")
+		return errors.New("no metadata found")
 	}
 	m := f.(map[string]interface{})
 	// Needed for case insensitive fetching of params values
diff --git a/hugolib/site.go b/hugolib/site.go
index 93354d551..545ff6048 100644
--- a/hugolib/site.go
+++ b/hugolib/site.go
@@ -1085,7 +1085,7 @@ func (s *Site) absPublishDir() string {
 
 func (s *Site) checkDirectories() (err error) {
 	if b, _ := helpers.DirExists(s.absContentDir(), hugofs.Source()); !b {
-		return fmt.Errorf("No source directory found, expecting to find it at " + s.absContentDir())
+		return errors.New("No source directory found, expecting to find it at " + s.absContentDir())
 	}
 	return
 }
diff --git a/parser/frontmatter.go b/parser/frontmatter.go
index 0f112ecfa..ed25c08e1 100644
--- a/parser/frontmatter.go
+++ b/parser/frontmatter.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ package parser
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
+	"errors"
 	"strings"
 
 	toml "github.com/pelletier/go-toml"
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ type frontmatterType struct {
 
 func InterfaceToConfig(in interface{}, mark rune) ([]byte, error) {
 	if in == nil {
-		return []byte{}, fmt.Errorf("input was nil")
+		return []byte{}, errors.New("input was nil")
 	}
 
 	b := new(bytes.Buffer)
@@ -64,13 +64,13 @@ func InterfaceToConfig(in interface{}, mark rune) ([]byte, error) {
 		}
 		return b.Bytes(), nil
 	default:
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unsupported Format provided")
+		return nil, errors.New("Unsupported Format provided")
 	}
 }
 
 func InterfaceToFrontMatter(in interface{}, mark rune) ([]byte, error) {
 	if in == nil {
-		return []byte{}, fmt.Errorf("input was nil")
+		return []byte{}, errors.New("input was nil")
 	}
 
 	b := new(bytes.Buffer)
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ func InterfaceToFrontMatter(in interface{}, mark rune) ([]byte, error) {
 		}
 		return b.Bytes(), nil
 	default:
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unsupported Format provided")
+		return nil, errors.New("Unsupported Format provided")
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/tpl/template_funcs.go b/tpl/template_funcs.go
index 7aa90e18b..9a2b52020 100644
--- a/tpl/template_funcs.go
+++ b/tpl/template_funcs.go
@@ -1676,13 +1676,13 @@ func prepareArg(value reflect.Value, argType reflect.Type) (reflect.Value, error
 func index(item interface{}, indices ...interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
 	v := reflect.ValueOf(item)
 	if !v.IsValid() {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("index of untyped nil")
+		return nil, errors.New("index of untyped nil")
 	}
 	for _, i := range indices {
 		index := reflect.ValueOf(i)
 		var isNil bool
 		if v, isNil = indirect(v); isNil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("index of nil pointer")
+			return nil, errors.New("index of nil pointer")
 		}
 		switch v.Kind() {
 		case reflect.Array, reflect.Slice, reflect.String:
@@ -1693,7 +1693,7 @@ func index(item interface{}, indices ...interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
 			case reflect.Uint, reflect.Uint8, reflect.Uint16, reflect.Uint32, reflect.Uint64, reflect.Uintptr:
 				x = int64(index.Uint())
 			case reflect.Invalid:
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot index slice/array with nil")
+				return nil, errors.New("cannot index slice/array with nil")
 			default:
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot index slice/array with type %s", index.Type())
 			}
@@ -1974,7 +1974,7 @@ func querify(params ...interface{}) (string, error) {
 	qs := url.Values{}
 	vals, err := dictionary(params...)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("querify keys must be strings")
+		return "", errors.New("querify keys must be strings")
 	}
 
 	for name, value := range vals {