diff --git a/compos/common/compos_client.rs b/compos/common/compos_client.rs
index 72d2b76..69f095a 100644
--- a/compos/common/compos_client.rs
+++ b/compos/common/compos_client.rs
@@ -200,21 +200,20 @@
 
 fn want_protected_vm() -> Result<bool> {
     let have_protected_vm =
-        system_properties::read_bool("ro.boot.hypervisor.protected_vm.supported", false)
-            .unwrap_or(false);
+        system_properties::read_bool("ro.boot.hypervisor.protected_vm.supported", false)?;
     if have_protected_vm {
         info!("Starting protected VM");
         return Ok(true);
     }
 
-    let build_type = system_properties::read("ro.build.type")?;
+    let build_type = system_properties::read("ro.build.type")?.context("ro.build.type not set")?;
     let is_debug_build = matches!(build_type.as_str(), "userdebug" | "eng");
     if !is_debug_build {
         bail!("Protected VM not supported, unable to start VM");
     }
 
     let have_unprotected_vm =
-        system_properties::read_bool("ro.boot.hypervisor.vm.supported", false).unwrap_or(false);
+        system_properties::read_bool("ro.boot.hypervisor.vm.supported", false)?;
     if have_unprotected_vm {
         warn!("Protected VM not supported, falling back to unprotected on {} build", build_type);
         return Ok(false);
diff --git a/compos/common/timeouts.rs b/compos/common/timeouts.rs
index c86ae34..e6cc430 100644
--- a/compos/common/timeouts.rs
+++ b/compos/common/timeouts.rs
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@
 /// Whether the current platform requires extra time for operations inside a VM.
 pub fn need_extra_time() -> Result<bool> {
     // Nested virtualization is slow. Check if we are running on vsoc as a proxy for this.
-    let value = system_properties::read("ro.build.product")?;
-    Ok(value == "vsoc_x86_64" || value == "vsoc_x86")
+    if let Some(value) = system_properties::read("ro.build.product")? {
+        Ok(value == "vsoc_x86_64" || value == "vsoc_x86")
+    } else {
+        Ok(false)
+    }
 }
 
 /// Return the timeouts that are appropriate on the current platform.
diff --git a/compos/composd/src/instance_manager.rs b/compos/composd/src/instance_manager.rs
index 2f15cb5..9761a3e 100644
--- a/compos/composd/src/instance_manager.rs
+++ b/compos/composd/src/instance_manager.rs
@@ -83,15 +83,15 @@
 }
 
 fn new_vm_parameters() -> Result<VmParameters> {
-    let cpus = match system_properties::read(DEX2OAT_THREADS_PROP_NAME) {
-        Ok(s) => Some(NonZeroU32::from_str(&s)?),
-        Err(_) => {
+    let cpus = match system_properties::read(DEX2OAT_THREADS_PROP_NAME)? {
+        Some(s) => Some(NonZeroU32::from_str(&s)?),
+        None => {
             // dex2oat uses all CPUs by default. To match the behavior, give the VM all CPUs by
             // default.
             NonZeroU32::new(num_cpus::get() as u32)
         }
     };
-    let cpu_set = system_properties::read(DEX2OAT_CPU_SET_PROP_NAME).ok();
+    let cpu_set = system_properties::read(DEX2OAT_CPU_SET_PROP_NAME)?;
     Ok(VmParameters { cpus, cpu_set, ..Default::default() })
 }
 
diff --git a/compos/composd/src/odrefresh_task.rs b/compos/composd/src/odrefresh_task.rs
index 82eedc4..d1d0e28 100644
--- a/compos/composd/src/odrefresh_task.rs
+++ b/compos/composd/src/odrefresh_task.rs
@@ -145,9 +145,9 @@
     };
     let fd_server_raii = fd_server_config.into_fd_server()?;
 
-    let zygote_arch = system_properties::read("ro.zygote")?;
+    let zygote_arch = system_properties::read("ro.zygote")?.context("ro.zygote not set")?;
     let system_server_compiler_filter =
-        system_properties::read("dalvik.vm.systemservercompilerfilter").unwrap_or_default();
+        system_properties::read("dalvik.vm.systemservercompilerfilter")?.unwrap_or_default();
     let exit_code = service.odrefresh(
         compilation_mode,
         system_dir.as_raw_fd(),
diff --git a/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs b/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
index ebb01b3..7e0c634 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
+++ b/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
@@ -868,7 +868,7 @@
 /// a system property so that restart of virtualizationservice doesn't reuse CID while the host
 /// Android is up.
 fn next_cid() -> Result<Cid> {
-    let next = if let Ok(val) = system_properties::read(SYSPROP_LAST_CID) {
+    let next = if let Some(val) = system_properties::read(SYSPROP_LAST_CID)? {
         if let Ok(num) = val.parse::<u32>() {
             num.checked_add(1).ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("run out of CID"))?
         } else {
diff --git a/vm/src/main.rs b/vm/src/main.rs
index 2514424..2cbae3e 100644
--- a/vm/src/main.rs
+++ b/vm/src/main.rs
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@
         (true, true) => println!("Both protected and unprotected VMs are supported."),
     }
 
-    if let Ok(version) = system_properties::read("ro.boot.hypervisor.version") {
+    if let Some(version) = system_properties::read("ro.boot.hypervisor.version")? {
         println!("Hypervisor version: {}", version);
     } else {
         println!("Hypervisor version not set.");