diff --git a/jail2ban/pfctl.py b/jail2ban/pfctl.py
index 24f4448..0e062c5 100644
--- a/jail2ban/pfctl.py
+++ b/jail2ban/pfctl.py
@@ -9,12 +9,10 @@ def pfctl_cfg_read(anchor):
     cmd = [_SUDO, _PFCTL, '-a', anchor, '-sr']
     logging.info('Running %s', cmd)
 
-    res = run(cmd, capture_output=True)
+    res = run(cmd, capture_output=True, check=True)
 
-    if res and res.stdout:
-        logging.info('Result: %s', res)
-        res.check_returncode()
-        return res.stdout.splitlines()
+    logging.info('Result: %s', res)
+    return res.stdout.splitlines()
 
 
 def pfctl_cfg_write(anchor, cfg):
@@ -24,12 +22,11 @@ def pfctl_cfg_write(anchor, cfg):
 
     res = run(cmd,
               input=cfg,
+              check=True,
               capture_output=True)
 
-    if res:
-        logging.info('Result: %s', res)
-        res.check_returncode()
-        return res.stdout.splitlines()
+    logging.info('Result: %s', res)
+    return res.stdout.splitlines()
 
 
 def pfctl_table_op(anchor, **kwargs):
@@ -40,9 +37,9 @@ def pfctl_table_op(anchor, **kwargs):
 
     logging.info('Running %s', cmd)
 
-    res = run([x for x in cmd if x is not None], capture_output=True)
+    res = run([x for x in cmd if x is not None],
+              capture_output=True,
+              check=True)
 
-    if res:
-        logging.debug(res)
-        res.check_returncode()
-        return res.stdout.splitlines()
+    logging.debug(res)
+    return res.stdout.splitlines()