diff --git a/jwt.go b/jwt.go
index ea298f0..40dac3c 100644
--- a/jwt.go
+++ b/jwt.go
@@ -42,10 +42,11 @@ type JWTOptions struct {
 
 // NewJWTConfig creates a new configuration with the specified options
 // and OAuth2 provider endpoint.
-func NewJWTConfig(opts *JWTOptions, aud string) (conf *JWTConfig, err error) {
+func NewJWTConfig(opts *JWTOptions, aud string) (*JWTConfig, error) {
 	var audURL *url.URL
+	var err error
 	if audURL, err = url.Parse(aud); err != nil {
-		return
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(opts.PemFilename)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/oauth2.go b/oauth2.go
index 77d7e27..114c640 100644
--- a/oauth2.go
+++ b/oauth2.go
@@ -78,19 +78,20 @@ type Options struct {
 
 // NewConfig creates a generic OAuth 2.0 configuration that talks
 // to an OAuth 2.0 provider specified with authURL and tokenURL.
-func NewConfig(opts *Options, authURL, tokenURL string) (conf *Config, err error) {
+func NewConfig(opts *Options, authURL, tokenURL string) (*Config, error) {
 	var aURL, tURL *url.URL
+	var err error
 	if aURL, err = url.Parse(authURL); err != nil {
-		return
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	if tURL, err = url.Parse(tokenURL); err != nil {
-		return
+		return nil, err
 	}
-	conf = &Config{opts: opts, authURL: aURL, tokenURL: tURL}
+	conf := &Config{opts: opts, authURL: aURL, tokenURL: tURL}
 	if err = conf.validate(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return
+	return conf, nil
 }
 
 // Config represents the configuration of an OAuth 2.0 consumer client.