diff --git a/common/events.c b/common/events.c
index 4aa5eff5..932aa3b6 100644
--- a/common/events.c
+++ b/common/events.c
@@ -36,11 +36,11 @@ uiEvent *uiNewEvent(const uiEventOptions *options)
 	if (!uiprivCheckInitializedAndThread())
 		return NULL;
 	if (options == NULL) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer, "uiEventOptions", uiprivFunc);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer("uiEventOptions", uiprivFunc);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	if (options->Size != sizeof (uiEventOptions)) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongStructSize, options->Size, "uiEventOptions");
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongStructSize(options->Size, "uiEventOptions");
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	e = (uiEvent *) uiprivAlloc(sizeof (uiEvent), "uiEvent");
@@ -51,22 +51,22 @@ uiEvent *uiNewEvent(const uiEventOptions *options)
 }
 
 #define checkEventNonnull(e, ret) if ((e) == NULL) { \
-	uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer, "uiEvent", uiprivFunc); \
+	uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer("uiEvent", uiprivFunc); \
 	return ret; \
 }
 #define checkEventNotFiring(e, ret) if ((e)->firing) { \
-	uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorChangingEventDuringFire, uiprivFunc); \
+	uiprivProgrammerErrorChangingEventDuringFire(uiprivFunc); \
 	return ret; \
 }
 
 static bool checkEventSender(const uiEvent *e, void *sender, const char *func)
 {
 	if (e->opts.Global && sender != NULL) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorBadSenderForEvent, "non-NULL", "global", func);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorBadSenderForEvent("non-NULL", "global", func);
 		return false;
 	}
 	if (!e->opts.Global && sender == NULL) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorBadSenderForEvent, "NULL", "non-global", func);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorBadSenderForEvent("NULL", "non-global", func);
 		return false;
 	}
 	return true;
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ int uiEventAddHandler(uiEvent *e, uiEventHandler handler, void *sender, void *da
 	checkEventNonnull(e, 0);
 	checkEventNotFiring(e, 0);
 	if (handler == NULL) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer, "uiEventHandler", uiprivFunc);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer("uiEventHandler", uiprivFunc);
 		return 0;
 	}
 	if (!checkEventSender(e, sender, uiprivFunc))
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ static struct handler *findHandler(const uiEvent *e, int id, const char *func)
 	key.id = id;
 	ret = (struct handler *) uiprivArrayBsearch(&(e->handlers), &key, handlerCmp);
 	if (ret == NULL)
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorIntIDNotFound, "uiEvent handler", id, func);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorIntIDNotFound("uiEvent handler", id, func);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ void uiEventFire(uiEvent *e, void *sender, void *args)
 		return;
 	checkEventNonnull(e, /* nothing */);
 	if (e->firing) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorRecursiveEventFire);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorRecursiveEventFire();
 		return;
 	}
 	if (!checkEventSender(e, sender, uiprivFunc))
diff --git a/common/main.c b/common/main.c
index 5654fd4f..a0624761 100644
--- a/common/main.c
+++ b/common/main.c
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ bool uiprivInitReturnErrorf(uiInitError *err, const char *fmt, ...)
 void uiQueueMain(void (*f)(void *data), void *data)
 {
 	if (!initialized) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorNotInitialized, uiprivFunc);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorNotInitialized(uiprivFunc);
 		return;
 	}
 	uiprivSysQueueMain(f, data);
@@ -55,11 +55,11 @@ bool uiprivCheckInitializedAndThreadImpl(const char *func)
 {
 	// While it does seem risky to not lock this, if this changes during the execution of this function it means only that it was changed from a different thread, and since it can only change from false to true, an error will be reported anyway.
 	if (!initialized) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorNotInitialized, func);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorNotInitialized(func);
 		return false;
 	}
 	if (!uiprivSysCheckThread()) {
-		uiprivProgrammerError(uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongThread, func);
+		uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongThread(func);
 		return false;
 	}
 	return true;
diff --git a/common/programmererrors.h b/common/programmererrors.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a8292b9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/programmererrors.h
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+// 2 june 2019
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorNotInitialized(func) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("attempt to call %s() before uiInit()", \
+		func)
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongThread(func) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("attempt to call %s() on a thread other than the GUI thread", \
+		func)
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongStructSize(badSize, structName) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("wrong size %" uiprivSizetPrintf " for %s", \
+		badSize, structName)
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorIndexOutOfRange(badIndex, func) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("index %d out of range in %s()", \
+		badIndex, func)
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer(paramDesc, func) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("invalid null pointer for %s passed into %s()", \
+		paramDesc, func)
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorIntIDNotFound(idDesc, badID, func) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("%s identifier %d not found in %s()", \
+		idDesc, badID, func)
+
+// TODO type mismatch
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorBadSenderForEvent(senderDesc, eventDesc, func) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("attempt to use a %s sender with a %s event in %s()", \
+		senderDesc, eventDesc, func)
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorChangingEventDuringFire(func) \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("attempt to change a uiEvent with %s() while it is firing", \
+		func)
+
+#define uiprivProgrammerErrorRecursiveEventFire() \
+	uiprivProgrammerError("attempt to fire a uiEvent while it is already being fired")
diff --git a/common/uipriv.h b/common/uipriv.h
index 1039f6fd..0f4ff5db 100644
--- a/common/uipriv.h
+++ b/common/uipriv.h
@@ -60,20 +60,10 @@ extern bool uiprivSysCheckThread(void);
 uiprivPrintfFunc(
 	extern void uiprivInternalError(const char *fmt, ...),
 	1, 2);
-// TODO turn each of these into function-like macros
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorNotInitialized "attempt to call %s() before uiInit()"		// arguments: uiprivFunc
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongThread "attempt to call %s() on a thread other than the GUI thread"		// arguments: uiprivFunc
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorWrongStructSize "wrong size %" uiprivSizetPrintf " for %s"		// arguments: size_t badSize, const char *structName
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorIndexOutOfRange "index %d out of range in %s()"		// arguments: int badIndex, uiprivFunc
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorNullPointer "invalid null pointer for %s passed into %s()"			// arguments: const char *paramDesc, uiprivFunc
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorIntIDNotFound "%s identifier %d not found in %s()"		// arguments: const char *idDesc, int badID, uiprivFunc
-// TODO type mismatch
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorBadSenderForEvent "attempt to use a %s sender with a %s event in %s()"			// arguments: const char *senderDesc, const char *eventDesc, uiprivFunc
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorChangingEventDuringFire "attempt to change a uiEvent with %s() while it is firing"				// arguments: uiprivFunc
-#define uiprivProgrammerErrorRecursiveEventFire "attempt to fire a uiEvent while it is already being fired"		// no arguments
 uiprivPrintfFunc(
 	extern void uiprivProgrammerError(const char *fmt, ...),
 	1, 2);
+#include "programmererrors.h"
 extern void uiprivReportError(const char *prefix, const char *msg, const char *suffix, bool internal);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus