diff --git a/libr/anal/vtable.c b/libr/anal/vtable.c
index 858c3bb9dad90..664bed170de75 100644
--- a/libr/anal/vtable.c
+++ b/libr/anal/vtable.c
@@ -299,9 +299,6 @@ R_API void r_anal_vtables_list(RAnal *anal, int rad) {
 
 	if (rad == 'j') {
 		PJ *pj = pj_new ();
-		if (!pj) {
-			return;
-		}
 		pj_a (pj);
 		r_list_foreach (vtables, vtableIter, table) {
 			pj_o (pj);
diff --git a/libr/include/r_util/pj.h b/libr/include/r_util/pj.h
index af7fa51803200..9fe21926e352b 100644
--- a/libr/include/r_util/pj.h
+++ b/libr/include/r_util/pj.h
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ typedef struct pj_t {
 } PJ;
 
 /* lifecycle */
-R_API PJ *pj_new(void);
-R_API PJ *pj_new_with_encoding(PJEncodingStr str_encoding, PJEncodingNum num_encoding);
+R_API R_NONNULL PJ *pj_new(void);
+R_API R_NONNULL PJ *pj_new_with_encoding(PJEncodingStr str_encoding, PJEncodingNum num_encoding);
 R_API void pj_free(PJ *j);
 R_API void pj_reset(PJ *j); // clear the pj contents, but keep the buffer allocated to re-use it
 R_API char *pj_drain(PJ *j);
diff --git a/libr/io/io_map.c b/libr/io/io_map.c
index 8ff71d693c914..d1bcbaf41971e 100644
--- a/libr/io/io_map.c
+++ b/libr/io/io_map.c
@@ -820,7 +820,6 @@ R_API bool r_io_map_setattr(RIOMap *map, ut32 type, ut32 flags) {
 }
 
 R_API char *r_io_map_getattr(RIOMap *map) {
-	RStrBuf *sb = r_strbuf_new ("");
 	ut32 maptype = map->meta & 0xffff;
 	ut32 mapflag = (map->meta > 16) & 0xffff;
 	if (maptype >= R_IO_MAP_META_TYPE_LAST) {
@@ -829,6 +828,7 @@ R_API char *r_io_map_getattr(RIOMap *map) {
 	if (mapflag >= R_IO_MAP_META_FLAG_LAST) {
 		return false;
 	}
+	RStrBuf *sb = r_strbuf_new ("");
 	r_strbuf_append (sb, metatypename[maptype]);
 	int i = 0;
 	for (i = 0; i < 16; i++) {
diff --git a/libr/util/pj.c b/libr/util/pj.c
index aff11d671549d..f4b24833d7d8e 100644
--- a/libr/util/pj.c
+++ b/libr/util/pj.c
@@ -24,15 +24,13 @@ static void pj_comma(PJ *j) {
 	j->is_key = false;
 }
 
-R_API PJ *pj_new(void) {
+R_API R_NONNULL PJ *pj_new(void) {
 	PJ *j = R_NEW0 (PJ);
-	if (j) {
-		r_strbuf_init (&j->sb);
-		j->is_first = true;
-		j->comma = ",";
-		j->str_encoding = PJ_ENCODING_STR_DEFAULT;
-		j->num_encoding = PJ_ENCODING_NUM_DEFAULT;
-	}
+	r_strbuf_init (&j->sb);
+	j->is_first = true;
+	j->comma = ",";
+	j->str_encoding = PJ_ENCODING_STR_DEFAULT;
+	j->num_encoding = PJ_ENCODING_NUM_DEFAULT;
 	return j;
 }