diff --git a/windows/area.cpp b/windows/area.cpp
index 2d301855..bdad93f5 100644
--- a/windows/area.cpp
+++ b/windows/area.cpp
@@ -89,8 +89,7 @@ void uiAreaSetSize(uiArea *a, intmax_t width, intmax_t height)
 void uiAreaQueueRedrawAll(uiArea *a)
 {
 	// don't erase the background; we do that ourselves in doPaint()
-	if (InvalidateRect(a->hwnd, NULL, FALSE) == 0)
-		logLastError(L"error queueing uiArea redraw");
+	invalidateRect(a->hwnd, NULL, FALSE);
 }
 
 void uiAreaScrollTo(uiArea *a, double x, double y, double width, double height)
diff --git a/windows/areadraw.cpp b/windows/areadraw.cpp
index 77e9aeaf..17b64705 100644
--- a/windows/areadraw.cpp
+++ b/windows/areadraw.cpp
@@ -127,6 +127,5 @@ void areaDrawOnResize(uiArea *a, RECT *newClient)
 
 	// according to Rick Brewster, we must always redraw the entire client area after calling ID2D1RenderTarget::Resize() (see http://stackoverflow.com/a/33222983/3408572)
 	// we used to have a uiAreaHandler.RedrawOnResize() method to decide this; now you know why we don't anymore
-	if (InvalidateRect(a->hwnd, NULL, TRUE) == 0)
-		logLastError(L"error redrawing area on resize");
+	invalidateRect(a->hwnd, NULL, TRUE);
 }
diff --git a/windows/areascroll.cpp b/windows/areascroll.cpp
index 782755a9..3e05d0aa 100644
--- a/windows/areascroll.cpp
+++ b/windows/areascroll.cpp
@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ static void scrollto(uiArea *a, int which, struct scrollParams *p, intmax_t pos)
 
 	// Direct2D doesn't have a method for scrolling the existing contents of a render target.
 	// We'll have to just invalidate everything and hope for the best.
-	if (InvalidateRect(a->hwnd, NULL, FALSE) == 0)
-		logLastError(L"error invalidating uiArea after scrolling");
+	invalidateRect(a->hwnd, NULL, FALSE);
 
 	*(p->pos) = pos;
 
diff --git a/windows/colorbutton.cpp b/windows/colorbutton.cpp
index 21c56cf6..edbba35d 100644
--- a/windows/colorbutton.cpp
+++ b/windows/colorbutton.cpp
@@ -134,8 +134,7 @@ void uiColorButtonSetColor(uiColorButton *b, double r, double g, double bl, doub
 	b->g = g;
 	b->b = bl;
 	b->a = a;
-	// TODO don't we have a helper function for this?
-	InvalidateRect(b->hwnd, NULL, TRUE);
+	invalidateRect(b->hwnd, NULL, TRUE);
 }
 
 void uiColorButtonOnChanged(uiColorButton *b, void (*f)(uiColorButton *, void *), void *data)
diff --git a/windows/fontdialog.cpp b/windows/fontdialog.cpp
index ef1fae11..c30230f0 100644
--- a/windows/fontdialog.cpp
+++ b/windows/fontdialog.cpp
@@ -174,8 +174,7 @@ static WCHAR *fontStyleName(struct fontCollection *fc, IDWriteFont *font)
 static void queueRedrawSampleText(struct fontDialog *f)
 {
 	// TODO TRUE?
-	if (InvalidateRect(f->sampleBox, NULL, TRUE) == 0)
-		logLastError(L"error queueing a redraw of the font dialog's sample text");
+	invalidateRect(f->sampleBox, NULL, TRUE);
 }
 
 static void styleChanged(struct fontDialog *f)
diff --git a/windows/uipriv_windows.hpp b/windows/uipriv_windows.hpp
index 555c687b..7c43874b 100644
--- a/windows/uipriv_windows.hpp
+++ b/windows/uipriv_windows.hpp
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ extern HWND parentOf(HWND child);
 extern HWND parentToplevel(HWND child);
 extern void setWindowInsertAfter(HWND hwnd, HWND insertAfter);
 extern HWND getDlgItem(HWND hwnd, int id);
+extern void invalidateRect(HWND hwnd, RECT *r, BOOL erase);
 
 // text.cpp
 extern WCHAR *windowTextAndLen(HWND hwnd, LRESULT *len);
diff --git a/windows/winutil.cpp b/windows/winutil.cpp
index 024260f2..2faf8192 100644
--- a/windows/winutil.cpp
+++ b/windows/winutil.cpp
@@ -130,3 +130,9 @@ HWND getDlgItem(HWND hwnd, int id)
 		logLastError(L"error getting dialog item handle");
 	return out;
 }
+
+void invalidateRect(HWND hwnd, RECT *r, BOOL erase)
+{
+	if (InvalidateRect(hwnd, r, erase) == 0)
+		logLastError(L"error invalidating window rect");
+}