diff -urpN portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/bin/isolated-functions.sh portage-2.2.0_alpha160/bin/isolated-functions.sh
--- portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/bin/isolated-functions.sh	2013-02-22 13:02:56.738295182 -0800
+++ portage-2.2.0_alpha160/bin/isolated-functions.sh	2013-02-22 13:04:33.766961208 -0800
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ assert() {
 	done
 }
 
-__assert_sigpipe_ok() {
+__helpers_assert_sigpipe_ok() {
 	# When extracting a tar file like this:
 	#
 	#     bzip2 -dc foo.tar.bz2 | tar xof -
@@ -32,15 +32,19 @@ __assert_sigpipe_ok() {
 	# which says, "When a command terminates on a fatal
 	# signal whose number is N, Bash uses the value 128+N
 	# as the exit status."
-
 	local x pipestatus=${PIPESTATUS[*]}
-	for x in $pipestatus ; do
+	for x in ${pipestatus} ; do
 		# Allow SIGPIPE through (128 + 13)
-		[[ $x -ne 0 && $x -ne ${PORTAGE_SIGPIPE_STATUS:-141} ]] && die "$@"
+		if [[ ${x} -ne 0 && ${x} -ne ${PORTAGE_SIGPIPE_STATUS:-141} ]] ; then
+			__helpers_die "${FUNCNAME}: error ${x}: $*"
+			return ${x}
+		fi
 	done
 
 	# Require normal success for the last process (tar).
-	[[ $x -eq 0 ]] || die "$@"
+	[[ ${x} -eq 0 ]] || __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME}: error ${x}: $*" || return ${x}
+
+	return 0
 }
 
 shopt -s extdebug
@@ -92,28 +96,78 @@ nonfatal() {
 		die "$FUNCNAME() not supported in this EAPI"
 	fi
 	if [[ $# -lt 1 ]]; then
-		die "$FUNCNAME(): Missing argument"
+		# Well they said nonfatal and forgot to finish their sentence.
+		# Something ain't right, to be sure, but die()ing here seems a bit
+		# pendantic and mean-spirited :)
+		local phase_str=
+		[[ -n ${EBUILD_PHASE} ]] && phase_str=" (${EBUILD_PHASE} phase)"
+		eerror "ERROR: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}${phase_str}:"
+		eerror "  ${FUNCNAME}: Missing argument"
+		eerror
+		return 1
 	fi
 
 	PORTAGE_NONFATAL=1 "$@"
 }
 
+# Memorizing the return-code at the beginning of __helpers_die()
+# and returning it unchanged (unless it's 0) is intended as a
+# courtesy to invokers who may use a bash sequence like:
+#
+#   failure_prone_action || \
+#       __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME}: descriptive error message" || \
+#           return $?
+#
+# as syntactic sugar for the following equivalent code:
+#
+#   failure_prone_action
+#   ret=$?
+#   if [[ ${ret} -ne 0 ]] ; then
+#       __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME}: descriptive error message"
+#       return ${ret}
+#   fi
+#
+# However, beware: this trick will not work for positive
+# conditionals because __helpers_die always returns a nonzero
+# failure code (if it returns at all).  Neither
+#
+#   action_intended_to_fail && __helpers_die msg && return $?
+#
+# nor
+#
+#   action_intended_to_fail && __helpers_die msg || return $?
+#
+# will work as intended.  The following would be a clean, correct
+# way to trigger __helpers_die() from a positive conditional:
+#
+#   action_intended_to_fail && {
+#       __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME}: descriptive error message"
+#       return 1
+#   }
+#
+#   # NB: if this were the last command in your helper function, you
+#   # should "return 0" here, as $? is always nonzero at this point.
+#
 __helpers_die() {
-	if ___eapi_helpers_can_die; then
+	local retcode=$?
+	(( retcode == 0 )) && retcode=1
+
+	if ___eapi_helpers_can_die && [[ "${PORTAGE_NONFATAL:-0}" != 1 ]]; then
 		die "$@"
 	else
-		echo -e "$@" >&2
+		local phase_str=
+		[[ -n ${EBUILD_PHASE} ]] && phase_str=" (${EBUILD_PHASE} phase)"
+		ewarn "WARNING: ${CATEGORY}/${PF}${phase_str}:"
+		ewarn "  ${FUNCNAME}: ${*:-(no error message)}"
+		ewarn
 	fi
+
+	return "${retcode}"
 }
 
 die() {
 	local IFS=$' \t\n'
 
-	if [[ $PORTAGE_NONFATAL -eq 1 ]]; then
-		echo -e " $WARN*$NORMAL ${FUNCNAME[1]}: WARNING: $@" >&2
-		return 1
-	fi
-
 	set +e
 	if [ -n "${QA_INTERCEPTORS}" ] ; then
 		# die was called from inside inherit. We need to clean up
diff -urpN portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/bin/phase-helpers.sh portage-2.2.0_alpha160/bin/phase-helpers.sh
--- portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/bin/phase-helpers.sh	2013-02-22 13:02:56.738295182 -0800
+++ portage-2.2.0_alpha160/bin/phase-helpers.sh	2013-02-22 13:41:06.931031864 -0800
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ insopts() {
 	export INSOPTIONS="$@"
 
 	# `install` should never be called with '-s' ...
+	# FIXME: strip -s and call __helpers_die?
 	has -s ${INSOPTIONS} && die "Never call insopts() with -s"
 }
 
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ exeopts() {
 	export EXEOPTIONS="$@"
 
 	# `install` should never be called with '-s' ...
+	# FIXME: strip -s and call __helpers_die?
 	has -s ${EXEOPTIONS} && die "Never call exeopts() with -s"
 }
 
@@ -112,6 +114,7 @@ libopts() {
 	export LIBOPTIONS="$@"
 
 	# `install` should never be called with '-s' ...
+	# FIXME: strip -s and call __helpers_die?
 	has -s ${LIBOPTIONS} && die "Never call libopts() with -s"
 }
 
@@ -154,12 +157,14 @@ keepdir() {
 			| tr "\n" "\0" | \
 			while read -r -d $'\0' ; do
 				>> "$REPLY" || \
-					die "Failed to recursively create .keep files"
+					__helpers_die "Failed to recursively create .keep files" || \
+						return $?
 			done
 	else
 		for x in "$@"; do
 			>> "${ED}${x}/.keep_${CATEGORY}_${PN}-${SLOT%/*}" || \
-				die "Failed to create .keep in ${ED}${x}"
+				__helpers_die "Failed to create .keep in ${ED}${x}" || \
+					return $?
 		done
 	fi
 }
@@ -288,7 +293,7 @@ unpack() {
 	local suffix
 	local myfail
 	local eapi=${EAPI:-0}
-	[ -z "$*" ] && die "Nothing passed to the 'unpack' command"
+	[ -z "$*" ] && { __helpers_die "Nothing passed to the 'unpack' command" ; return 1 ; }
 
 	for x in "$@"; do
 		__vecho ">>> Unpacking ${x} to ${PWD}"
@@ -301,65 +306,72 @@ unpack() {
 		if [[ ${x} == "./"* ]] ; then
 			srcdir=""
 		elif [[ ${x} == ${DISTDIR%/}/* ]] ; then
-			die "Arguments to unpack() cannot begin with \${DISTDIR}."
+			__helpers_die "Arguments to unpack() cannot begin with \${DISTDIR}."
+			return 1
 		elif [[ ${x} == "/"* ]] ; then
-			die "Arguments to unpack() cannot be absolute"
+			__helpers_die "Arguments to unpack() cannot be absolute"
+			return 1
 		else
 			srcdir="${DISTDIR}/"
 		fi
-		[[ ! -s ${srcdir}${x} ]] && die "${x} does not exist"
+		[[ -s ${srcdir}${x} ]] || __helpers_die "${x} does not exist" || return 1
 
 		__unpack_tar() {
 			if [ "${y}" == "tar" ]; then
 				$1 -c -- "$srcdir$x" | tar xof -
-				__assert_sigpipe_ok "$myfail"
+				__helpers_assert_sigpipe_ok "$myfail" || return $?
 			else
 				local cwd_dest=${x##*/}
 				cwd_dest=${cwd_dest%.*}
-				$1 -c -- "${srcdir}${x}" > "${cwd_dest}" || die "$myfail"
+				$1 -c -- "${srcdir}${x}" > "${cwd_dest}" || \
+					__helpers_die "$myfail" || return $?
 			fi
 		}
 
 		myfail="failure unpacking ${x}"
 		case "${suffix}" in
 			tar)
-				tar xof "$srcdir$x" || die "$myfail"
+				tar xof "$srcdir$x" || __helpers_die "$myfail" || return $?
 				;;
 			tgz)
-				tar xozf "$srcdir$x" || die "$myfail"
+				tar xozf "$srcdir$x" || __helpers_die "$myfail" || return $?
 				;;
 			tbz|tbz2)
 				${PORTAGE_BUNZIP2_COMMAND:-${PORTAGE_BZIP2_COMMAND} -d} -c -- "$srcdir$x" | tar xof -
-				__assert_sigpipe_ok "$myfail"
+				__helpers_assert_sigpipe_ok "$myfail" || return $?
 				;;
 			zip|jar)
 				# unzip will interactively prompt under some error conditions,
 				# as reported in bug #336285
 				( set +x ; while true ; do echo n || break ; done ) | \
-				unzip -qo "${srcdir}${x}" || die "$myfail"
+					unzip -qo "${srcdir}${x}" || \
+						{ __helpers_die "$myfail" || return 1 ; }
 				;;
 			gz|z)
-				__unpack_tar "gzip -d"
+				__unpack_tar "gzip -d" || return $?
 				;;
 			bz2|bz)
-				__unpack_tar "${PORTAGE_BUNZIP2_COMMAND:-${PORTAGE_BZIP2_COMMAND} -d}"
+				__unpack_tar "${PORTAGE_BUNZIP2_COMMAND:-${PORTAGE_BZIP2_COMMAND} -d}" || \
+					return $?
 				;;
 			7z)
 				local my_output
 				my_output="$(7z x -y "${srcdir}${x}")"
 				if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+					local my_result=$?
 					echo "${my_output}" >&2
-					die "$myfail"
+					__helpers_die "$myfail"
+					return ${my_result}
 				fi
 				;;
 			rar)
-				unrar x -idq -o+ "${srcdir}${x}" || die "$myfail"
+				unrar x -idq -o+ "${srcdir}${x}" || __helpers_die "$myfail" || return $?
 				;;
 			lha|lzh)
-				lha xfq "${srcdir}${x}" || die "$myfail"
+				lha xfq "${srcdir}${x}" || __helpers_die "$myfail" || return $?
 				;;
 			a)
-				ar x "${srcdir}${x}" || die "$myfail"
+				ar x "${srcdir}${x}" || __helpers_die "$myfail" || return $?
 				;;
 			deb)
 				# Unpacking .deb archives can not always be done with
@@ -369,31 +381,35 @@ unpack() {
 				# installed.
 				if type -P deb2targz > /dev/null; then
 					y=${x##*/}
-					local created_symlink=0
-					if [ ! "$srcdir$x" -ef "$y" ] ; then
+					if [ ! "${srcdir}${x}" -ef "${y}" ] ; then
 						# deb2targz always extracts into the same directory as
 						# the source file, so create a symlink in the current
 						# working directory if necessary.
-						ln -sf "$srcdir$x" "$y" || die "$myfail"
-						created_symlink=1
-					fi
-					deb2targz "$y" || die "$myfail"
-					if [ $created_symlink = 1 ] ; then
+						ln -sf "${srcdir}${x}" "${y}" || \
+							__helpers_die "${myfail}" || return $?
+						deb2targz "${y}" || \
+							__helpers_die "${myfail}" || return $?
 						# Clean up the symlink so the ebuild
 						# doesn't inadvertently install it.
-						rm -f "$y"
+						rm -f "${y}" || \
+							__helpers_die "${myfail}" || return $?
+					else
+						deb2targz "${y}" || \
+							__helpers_die "${myfail}" || return $?
 					fi
-					mv -f "${y%.deb}".tar.gz data.tar.gz || die "$myfail"
+					mv -f "${y%.deb}".tar.gz data.tar.gz || \
+						__helpers_die "${myfail}" || return $?
 				else
-					ar x "$srcdir$x" || die "$myfail"
+					ar x "${srcdir}${x}" \
+						|| __helpers_die "${myfail}" || return $?
 				fi
 				;;
 			lzma)
-				__unpack_tar "lzma -d"
+				__unpack_tar "lzma -d" || return $?
 				;;
 			xz)
 				if ___eapi_unpack_supports_xz; then
-					__unpack_tar "xz -d"
+					__unpack_tar "xz -d" || return $?
 				else
 					__vecho "unpack ${x}: file format not recognized. Ignoring."
 				fi
@@ -405,8 +421,8 @@ unpack() {
 	done
 	# Do not chmod '.' since it's probably ${WORKDIR} and PORTAGE_WORKDIR_MODE
 	# should be preserved.
-	find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 ! -type l -print0 | \
-		${XARGS} -0 chmod -fR a+rX,u+w,g-w,o-w
+	find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 ! -type l -execdir chmod -fR a+rX,u+w,g-w,o-w '{}' + || \
+		__helpers_die "${myfail}" || return $?
 }
 
 econf() {
@@ -417,7 +433,7 @@ econf() {
 	fi
 
 	__hasg() {
-		local x s=$1
+		local x s="$1"
 		shift
 		for x ; do [[ ${x} == ${s} ]] && echo "${x}" && return 0 ; done
 		return 1
@@ -443,10 +459,14 @@ econf() {
 		if [[ -n $CONFIG_SHELL && \
 			"$(head -n1 "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure")" =~ ^'#!'[[:space:]]*/bin/sh([[:space:]]|$) ]] ; then
 			# preserve timestamp, see bug #440304
-			touch -r "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure" "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure._portage_tmp_.$$" || die
+			touch -r "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure" "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure._portage_tmp_.$$" || \
+				__helpers_die || return $?
 			sed -e "1s:^#![[:space:]]*/bin/sh:#!$CONFIG_SHELL:" -i "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure" || \
-				die "Substition of shebang in '$ECONF_SOURCE/configure' failed"
-			touch -r "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure._portage_tmp_.$$" "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure" || die
+				__helpers_die "Substition of shebang in '$ECONF_SOURCE/configure' failed" || \
+					return $?
+			touch -r "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure._portage_tmp_.$$" "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure" || \
+				__helpers_die "Failed to touch $ECONF_SOURCE/configure._portage_tmp_.$$" || \
+					return $?
 			rm -f "$ECONF_SOURCE/configure._portage_tmp_.$$"
 		fi
 		if [ -e "${EPREFIX}"/usr/share/gnuconfig/ ]; then
@@ -515,12 +535,15 @@ econf() {
 				echo "!!! Please attach the following file when seeking support:"
 				echo "!!! ${PWD}/config.log"
 			fi
-			die "econf failed"
+			__helpers_die "econf failed"
+			return 1
 		fi
 	elif [ -f "${ECONF_SOURCE}/configure" ]; then
-		die "configure is not executable"
+		__helpers_die "configure is not executable"
+		return 1
 	else
-		die "no configure script found"
+		__helpers_die "no configure script found"
+		return 1
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -562,9 +585,10 @@ einstall() {
 			sysconfdir="${ED}etc" \
 			${LOCAL_EXTRA_EINSTALL} \
 			${MAKEOPTS} ${EXTRA_EMAKE} -j1 \
-			"$@" install || die "einstall failed"
+			"$@" install || __helpers_die "einstall failed" || return $?
 	else
-		die "no Makefile found"
+		__helpers_die "no Makefile found"
+		return 1
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -626,7 +650,7 @@ __eapi2_src_configure() {
 
 __eapi2_src_compile() {
 	if [ -f Makefile ] || [ -f GNUmakefile ] || [ -f makefile ]; then
-		emake || die "emake failed"
+		emake || __helpers_die "emake failed" || return $?
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -653,7 +677,8 @@ __eapi4_src_install() {
 # @DESCRIPTION:
 # Return true if given package is installed. Otherwise return false.
 # Callers may override the ROOT variable in order to match packages from an
-# alternative ROOT.
+# alternative ROOT.  Note that we do not use __helpers_die here because
+# a nonzero return value does not indicate failure.
 has_version() {
 
 	local atom eroot host_root=false root=${ROOT}
@@ -667,7 +692,7 @@ has_version() {
 
 	if ${host_root} ; then
 		if ! ___eapi_best_version_and_has_version_support_--host-root; then
-			die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: option --host-root is not supported with EAPI ${EAPI}"
+			die ${FUNCNAME[0]}: option --host-root is not supported with EAPI ${EAPI}
 		fi
 		root=/
 	fi
@@ -706,7 +731,8 @@ has_version() {
 # @DESCRIPTION:
 # Returns the best/most-current match.
 # Callers may override the ROOT variable in order to match packages from an
-# alternative ROOT.
+# alternative ROOT.  Note that we do not use __helpers_die here because in
+# this case non-zero return values have nonfailing semantic significance.
 best_version() {
 
 	local atom eroot host_root=false root=${ROOT}
@@ -758,7 +784,7 @@ if ___eapi_has_master_repositories; then
 	master_repositories() {
 		local output repository=$1 retval
 		shift
-		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*"
+		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && { __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*" ; return 1 ; }
 
 		if [[ -n ${PORTAGE_IPC_DAEMON} ]]; then
 			"${PORTAGE_BIN_PATH}/ebuild-ipc" master_repositories "${EROOT}" "${repository}"
@@ -790,7 +816,7 @@ if ___eapi_has_repository_path; then
 	repository_path() {
 		local output repository=$1 retval
 		shift
-		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*"
+		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && { __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*" ; return 1 ; }
 
 		if [[ -n ${PORTAGE_IPC_DAEMON} ]]; then
 			"${PORTAGE_BIN_PATH}/ebuild-ipc" repository_path "${EROOT}" "${repository}"
@@ -821,7 +847,7 @@ fi
 if ___eapi_has_available_eclasses; then
 	available_eclasses() {
 		local output repository=${PORTAGE_REPO_NAME} retval
-		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*"
+		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && { __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*" ; return 1 ; }
 
 		if [[ -n ${PORTAGE_IPC_DAEMON} ]]; then
 			"${PORTAGE_BIN_PATH}/ebuild-ipc" available_eclasses "${EROOT}" "${repository}"
@@ -853,7 +879,7 @@ if ___eapi_has_eclass_path; then
 	eclass_path() {
 		local eclass=$1 output repository=${PORTAGE_REPO_NAME} retval
 		shift
-		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*"
+		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && { __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*" ; return 1 ; }
 
 		if [[ -n ${PORTAGE_IPC_DAEMON} ]]; then
 			"${PORTAGE_BIN_PATH}/ebuild-ipc" eclass_path "${EROOT}" "${repository}" "${eclass}"
@@ -885,7 +911,7 @@ if ___eapi_has_license_path; then
 	license_path() {
 		local license=$1 output repository=${PORTAGE_REPO_NAME} retval
 		shift
-		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*"
+		[[ $# -gt 0 ]] && { __helpers_die "${FUNCNAME[0]}: unused argument(s): $*" ; return 1 ; }
 
 		if [[ -n ${PORTAGE_IPC_DAEMON} ]]; then
 			"${PORTAGE_BIN_PATH}/ebuild-ipc" license_path "${EROOT}" "${repository}" "${license}"
diff -urpN portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/bin/save-ebuild-env.sh portage-2.2.0_alpha160/bin/save-ebuild-env.sh
--- portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/bin/save-ebuild-env.sh	2013-01-23 17:32:01.000000000 -0800
+++ portage-2.2.0_alpha160/bin/save-ebuild-env.sh	2013-02-22 13:04:33.766961208 -0800
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ __save_ebuild_env() {
 	done
 	unset x
 
-	unset -f assert __assert_sigpipe_ok \
+	unset -f assert __helpers_assert_sigpipe_ok \
 		__dump_trace die \
 		__quiet_mode __vecho __elog_base eqawarn elog \
 		einfo einfon ewarn eerror ebegin __eend eend KV_major \
diff -urpN portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/doc/package/ebuild/eapi/4.docbook portage-2.2.0_alpha160/doc/package/ebuild/eapi/4.docbook
--- portage-2.2.0_alpha160.orig/doc/package/ebuild/eapi/4.docbook	2013-01-23 17:32:01.000000000 -0800
+++ portage-2.2.0_alpha160/doc/package/ebuild/eapi/4.docbook	2013-02-22 13:04:33.766961208 -0800
@@ -11,9 +11,14 @@ The dohard and dosed helpers from previo
 <section id='package-ebuild-eapi-4-helpers-die-nonfatal'>
 <title>All helpers die on failure</title>
 <para>
-All helpers now die automatically whenever some sort of error occurs.
-Helper calls may be prefixed with the 'nonfatal' helper in order
-to prevent errors from being fatal.
+All helpers now die automatically whenever any meaningful error occurs.
+The 'nonfatal' helper may be used to effect the error-handling behavior
+of EAPIs 0-3, in which recoverable errors emit a warning and return
+nonzero exit-codes to invokees.  It is used by prepending 'nonfatal' to any helper
+invocation; for example, by replacing 'dodoc /foo.txt' with 'nonfatal dodoc /foo.txt'.
+The 'nonfatal' helper should not be applied to
+statements other than helper invocations, and has no effect on the 'die'
+and 'assert' helpers.
 </para>
 </section>
 <section id='package-ebuild-eapi-4-helpers-docompress'>