diff --git a/programs/benchzstd.c b/programs/benchzstd.c
index a76db5f37..dd62d597a 100644
--- a/programs/benchzstd.c
+++ b/programs/benchzstd.c
@@ -697,9 +697,9 @@ static BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_benchCLevel(const void* srcBuffer, size_t benchedS
                                 displayLevel, displayName, adv);
 }
 
-BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_syntheticTest(int cLevel, double compressibility,
-                          const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
-                          int displayLevel, const BMK_advancedParams_t* adv)
+int BMK_syntheticTest(int cLevel, double compressibility,
+                      const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
+                      int displayLevel, const BMK_advancedParams_t* adv)
 {
     char name[20] = {0};
     size_t const benchedSize = 10000000;
@@ -707,12 +707,16 @@ BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_syntheticTest(int cLevel, double compressibility,
     BMK_benchOutcome_t res;
 
     if (cLevel > ZSTD_maxCLevel()) {
-        RETURN_ERROR(15, BMK_benchOutcome_t, "Invalid Compression Level");
+        DISPLAYLEVEL(1, "Invalid Compression Level");
+        return 15;
     }
 
     /* Memory allocation */
     srcBuffer = malloc(benchedSize);
-    if (!srcBuffer) RETURN_ERROR(21, BMK_benchOutcome_t, "not enough memory");
+    if (!srcBuffer) {
+        DISPLAYLEVEL(1, "allocation error : not enough memory");
+        return 16;
+    }
 
     /* Fill input buffer */
     RDG_genBuffer(srcBuffer, benchedSize, compressibility, 0.0, 0);
@@ -728,7 +732,7 @@ BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_syntheticTest(int cLevel, double compressibility,
     /* clean up */
     free(srcBuffer);
 
-    return res;
+    return !BMK_isSuccessful_benchOutcome(res);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/programs/benchzstd.h b/programs/benchzstd.h
index aa683dfc2..d0c73f83c 100644
--- a/programs/benchzstd.h
+++ b/programs/benchzstd.h
@@ -91,11 +91,11 @@ BMK_benchResult_t BMK_extract_benchResult(BMK_benchOutcome_t outcome);
  *          .cSize : compressed size, in bytes
  *          .cMem  : memory budget required for the compression context
  */
-BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_benchFiles(
-                   const char* const * fileNamesTable, unsigned nbFiles,
-                   const char* dictFileName,
-                   int cLevel, const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
-                   int displayLevel);
+BMK_benchOutcome_t
+BMK_benchFiles( const char* const * fileNamesTable, unsigned nbFiles,
+                const char* dictFileName,
+                int cLevel, const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
+                int displayLevel);
 
 
 typedef enum {
@@ -126,11 +126,12 @@ BMK_advancedParams_t BMK_initAdvancedParams(void);
 /*! BMK_benchFilesAdvanced():
  *  Same as BMK_benchFiles(),
  *  with more controls, provided through advancedParams_t structure */
-BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_benchFilesAdvanced(
-                   const char* const * fileNamesTable, unsigned nbFiles,
-                   const char* dictFileName,
-                   int cLevel, const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
-                   int displayLevel, const BMK_advancedParams_t* adv);
+BMK_benchOutcome_t
+BMK_benchFilesAdvanced(
+               const char* const * fileNamesTable, unsigned nbFiles,
+               const char* dictFileName,
+               int cLevel, const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
+               int displayLevel, const BMK_advancedParams_t* adv);
 
 /*! BMK_syntheticTest() -- called from zstdcli */
 /*  Generates a sample with datagen, using compressibility argument */
@@ -139,20 +140,11 @@ BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_benchFilesAdvanced(
  *  compressionParams - basic compression Parameters
  *  displayLevel - see benchFiles
  *  adv - see advanced_Params_t
- * @return:
- *      a variant, which expresses either an error, or a valid result.
- *      Use BMK_isSuccessful_benchOutcome() to check if function was successful.
- *      If yes, extract the valid result with BMK_extract_benchResult(),
- *      it will contain :
- *          .cSpeed: compression speed in bytes per second,
- *          .dSpeed: decompression speed in bytes per second,
- *          .cSize : compressed size, in bytes
- *          .cMem  : memory budget required for the compression context
+ * @return: 0 on success, !0 on error
  */
-BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_syntheticTest(
-                          int cLevel, double compressibility,
-                          const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
-                          int displayLevel, const BMK_advancedParams_t* adv);
+int BMK_syntheticTest(int cLevel, double compressibility,
+                      const ZSTD_compressionParameters* compressionParams,
+                      int displayLevel, const BMK_advancedParams_t* adv);
 
 
 
@@ -190,8 +182,8 @@ BMK_benchOutcome_t BMK_benchMem(const void* srcBuffer, size_t srcSize,
                         int displayLevel, const char* displayName);
 
 
-/* BMK_benchMemAdvanced() : same as BMK_benchMem()
- * with following additional options :
+/* BMK_benchMemAdvanced() : used by Paramgrill
+ * same as BMK_benchMem() with following additional options :
  * dstBuffer - destination buffer to write compressed output in, NULL if none provided.
  * dstCapacity - capacity of destination buffer, give 0 if dstBuffer = NULL
  * adv = see advancedParams_t
diff --git a/programs/zstdcli.c b/programs/zstdcli.c
index f572f30c0..7f470cc69 100644
--- a/programs/zstdcli.c
+++ b/programs/zstdcli.c
@@ -1401,8 +1401,8 @@ int main(int argCount, const char* argv[])
             }   }
         } else {
             for(; cLevel <= cLevelLast; cLevel++) {
-                BMK_benchOutcome_t const bo = BMK_syntheticTest(cLevel, compressibility, &compressionParams, g_displayLevel, &benchParams);
-                if (!BMK_isSuccessful_benchOutcome(bo)) return 1;
+                if ( BMK_syntheticTest(cLevel, compressibility, &compressionParams, g_displayLevel, &benchParams) )
+                    return 1;
         }   }
 
 #else