diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
index 6cabe37..2dbfec1 100644
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -3658,9 +3658,17 @@
 /* 
  * utime_read_time_arguments() processes arguments for the utime
  * family of functions.
- * returns zero on failure.
  */
-static int
+
+typedef enum {
+  utime_success = 0,
+  utime_parse_failure = 1,
+  utime_times_and_ns_collision = 2,
+  utime_times_conversion_failure = 3,
+  utime_ns_conversion_failure = 4,
+} utime_status;
+
+static utime_status
 utime_read_time_arguments(utime_arguments *ua)
 {
     PyObject *times = NULL;
@@ -3668,7 +3676,8 @@
     char format[24];
     char *kwlist[4];
     char **kw = kwlist;
-    int return_value;
+    utime_status return_value;
+    int parse_result;
 
     *kw++ = ua->first_argument_name;
     *kw++ = "times";
@@ -3681,20 +3690,21 @@
             ua->function_name);
 
     if (ua->converter)
-        return_value = PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(ua->args, ua->kwargs,
+        parse_result = PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(ua->args, ua->kwargs,
             format, kwlist, ua->converter, ua->path, &times, &ns);
     else
-        return_value = PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(ua->args, ua->kwargs,
+        parse_result = PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(ua->args, ua->kwargs,
             format, kwlist, ua->path, &times, &ns);
 
-    if (!return_value)
-        return 0;
+    if (!parse_result)
+        return utime_parse_failure;
 
     if (times && ns) {
         PyErr_Format(PyExc_RuntimeError,
                      "%s: you may specify either 'times'"
                      " or 'ns' but not both",
                      ua->function_name);
+        return_value = utime_times_and_ns_collision;
         goto fail;
     }
 
@@ -3704,15 +3714,18 @@
                          "%s: 'time' must be either"
                          " a tuple of two ints or None",
                          ua->function_name);
+            return_value = utime_times_conversion_failure;
             goto fail;
         }
         ua->now = 0;
         if (_PyTime_ObjectToTimespec(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(times, 0),
                                      &ua->atime_s, &ua->atime_ns) == -1 ||
             _PyTime_ObjectToTimespec(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(times, 1),
-                                     &ua->mtime_s, &ua->mtime_ns) == -1)
+                                     &ua->mtime_s, &ua->mtime_ns) == -1) {
+            return_value = utime_times_conversion_failure;
             goto fail;
-        return 1;
+        }
+        return utime_success;
     }
 
     if (ns) {
@@ -3720,25 +3733,28 @@
             PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
                          "%s: 'ns' must be a tuple of two ints",
                          ua->function_name);
+            return_value = utime_ns_conversion_failure;
             goto fail;
         }
         ua->now = 0;
         if (!split_py_long_to_s_and_ns(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(ns, 0),
                                       &ua->atime_s, &ua->atime_ns) ||
             !split_py_long_to_s_and_ns(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(ns, 1),
-                                       &ua->mtime_s, &ua->mtime_ns))
+                                       &ua->mtime_s, &ua->mtime_ns)) {
+            return_value = utime_ns_conversion_failure;
             goto fail;
-        return 1;
+        }
+        return utime_success;
     }
 
     /* either times=None, or neither times nor ns was specified. use "now". */
     ua->now = 1;
-    return 1;
+    return utime_success;
 
   fail:
     if (ua->converter)
         Py_DECREF(ua->path);
-    return 0;
+    return return_value;
 }
 
 
@@ -3767,7 +3783,10 @@
     ua.path_format = 'U';
     ua.path = &upath;
 
-    if (!utime_read_time_arguments(&ua)) {
+    switch (utime_read_time_arguments(&ua)) {
+    default:
+        return NULL;
+    case utime_success: {
         wchar_t *wpath = PyUnicode_AsUnicode(upath);
         if (wpath == NULL)
             return NULL;
@@ -3778,8 +3797,9 @@
         Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
         if (hFile == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
             return win32_error_object("utime", upath);
+        break;
     }
-    else {
+    case utime_parse_failure: {
         const char *apath;
         /* Drop the argument parsing error as narrow strings
            are also valid. */
@@ -3787,7 +3807,7 @@
 
         ua.path_format = 'y';
         ua.path = (PyObject **)&apath;
-        if (!utime_read_time_arguments(&ua))
+        if (utime_read_time_arguments(&ua) != utime_success)
             return NULL;
         if (win32_warn_bytes_api())
             return NULL;
@@ -3801,6 +3821,9 @@
             win32_error("utime", apath);
             return NULL;
         }
+        break;
+    }
+
     }
 
     if (ua.now) {
@@ -3839,7 +3862,7 @@
     ua.path = &opath;
     ua.converter = PyUnicode_FSConverter;
 
-    if (!utime_read_time_arguments(&ua))
+    if (utime_read_time_arguments(&ua) != utime_success)
         return NULL;
     path = PyBytes_AsString(opath);
     if (ua.now) {
@@ -3892,7 +3915,7 @@
     ua.path = (PyObject **)&fd;
     ua.first_argument_name = "fd";
 
-    if (!utime_read_time_arguments(&ua))
+    if (utime_read_time_arguments(&ua) != utime_success)
         return NULL;
 
     if (ua.now) {
@@ -3937,7 +3960,7 @@
     ua.path = &opath;
     ua.converter = PyUnicode_FSConverter;
 
-    if (!utime_read_time_arguments(&ua))
+    if (utime_read_time_arguments(&ua) != utime_success)
         return NULL;
     path = PyBytes_AsString(opath);