diff --git a/target/scripts/helper-functions.sh b/target/scripts/helper-functions.sh
index 30b222a5..3333af73 100755
--- a/target/scripts/helper-functions.sh
+++ b/target/scripts/helper-functions.sh
@@ -21,13 +21,17 @@ function errex
 # PANIC_SCOPE => Optionally provide a string for debugging to better identify/locate the source of the panic.
 function dms_panic
 {
-  local PANIC_TYPE=$1
-  local PANIC_INFO=$2
-  local PANIC_SCOPE=$3 #optional
+  local PANIC_TYPE=${1}
+  local PANIC_INFO=${2}
+  local PANIC_SCOPE=${3} #optional
 
   local SHUTDOWN_MESSAGE
 
   case "${PANIC_TYPE}" in
+    ( 'fail-init' ) # PANIC_INFO == <name of service or process that failed to start / initialize>
+      SHUTDOWN_MESSAGE="Failed to start ${PANIC_INFO}!"
+    ;;
+
     ( 'no-env' ) # PANIC_INFO == <ENV VAR name>
       SHUTDOWN_MESSAGE="Environment Variable: ${PANIC_INFO} is not set!"
     ;;
@@ -58,6 +62,7 @@ function dms_panic
 }
 
 # Convenience wrappers based on type:
+function dms_panic__fail_init { dms_panic 'fail-init' "${1}" "${2}"; }
 function dms_panic__no_env { dms_panic 'no-env' "${1}" "${2}"; }
 function dms_panic__no_file { dms_panic 'no-file' "${1}" "${2}"; }
 function dms_panic__misconfigured { dms_panic 'misconfigured' "${1}" "${2}"; }
diff --git a/target/scripts/start-mailserver.sh b/target/scripts/start-mailserver.sh
index 7b1e1c5c..cc15a5e7 100755
--- a/target/scripts/start-mailserver.sh
+++ b/target/scripts/start-mailserver.sh
@@ -217,12 +217,6 @@ function _register_misc_function
   _notify 'inf' "${1}() registered"
 }
 
-function _defunc
-{
-  _notify 'fatal' 'Please fix your configuration. Exiting...'
-  exit 1
-}
-
 # ------------------------------------------------------------
 # ? << Registering functions
 # --
diff --git a/target/scripts/startup/check-stack.sh b/target/scripts/startup/check-stack.sh
index 6c731eb3..a5c09503 100644
--- a/target/scripts/startup/check-stack.sh
+++ b/target/scripts/startup/check-stack.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ function check
   _notify 'tasklog' 'Checking configuration'
   for FUNC in "${FUNCS_CHECK[@]}"
   do
-    ${FUNC} || _defunc
+    ${FUNC}
   done
 }
 
@@ -20,6 +20,5 @@ function _check_hostname
   if ! grep -q -E '^(\S+[.]\S+)$' <<< "${HOSTNAME}"
   then
     _shutdown 'Setting hostname/domainname is required'
-    return 1
   fi
 }
diff --git a/target/scripts/startup/daemons-stack.sh b/target/scripts/startup/daemons-stack.sh
index 28afddca..43ed4d6e 100644
--- a/target/scripts/startup/daemons-stack.sh
+++ b/target/scripts/startup/daemons-stack.sh
@@ -5,31 +5,31 @@ function start_daemons
   _notify 'tasklog' 'Starting daemons & mail server'
   for FUNC in "${DAEMONS_START[@]}"
   do
-    ${FUNC} || _defunc
+    ${FUNC}
   done
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_cron
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting cron'
-  supervisorctl start cron
+  supervisorctl start cron || dms_panic__fail_init 'cron'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_rsyslog
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting rsyslog'
-  supervisorctl start rsyslog
+  supervisorctl start rsyslog || dms_panic__fail_init 'rsyslog'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_saslauthd
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting saslauthd'
-  supervisorctl start "saslauthd_${SASLAUTHD_MECHANISMS}"
+  supervisorctl start "saslauthd_${SASLAUTHD_MECHANISMS}" || dms_panic__fail_init 'saslauthd'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_fail2ban
 {
-  _notify 'task' 'Starting fail2ban'
+  _notify 'task' 'Starting Fail2ban'
   touch /var/log/auth.log
 
   # delete fail2ban.sock that probably was left here after container restart
@@ -38,31 +38,31 @@ function _start_daemons_fail2ban
     rm /var/run/fail2ban/fail2ban.sock
   fi
 
-  supervisorctl start fail2ban
+  supervisorctl start fail2ban || dms_panic__fail_init 'Fail2ban'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_opendkim
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting opendkim'
-  supervisorctl start opendkim
+  supervisorctl start opendkim || dms_panic__fail_init 'opendkim'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_opendmarc
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting opendmarc'
-  supervisorctl start opendmarc
+  supervisorctl start opendmarc || dms_panic__fail_init 'opendmarc'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_postsrsd
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting postsrsd'
-  supervisorctl start postsrsd
+  supervisorctl start postsrsd || dms_panic__fail_init 'postsrsd'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_postfix
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting postfix'
-  supervisorctl start postfix
+  supervisorctl start postfix || dms_panic__fail_init 'postfix'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_dovecot
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ function _start_daemons_dovecot
     cp /tmp/docker-mailserver/dovecot.cf /etc/dovecot/local.conf
   fi
 
-  supervisorctl start dovecot
+  supervisorctl start dovecot || dms_panic__fail_init 'dovecot'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_fetchmail
@@ -120,41 +120,41 @@ EOF
     do
       COUNTER=$(( COUNTER + 1 ))
       _notify 'task' "Starting fetchmail instance ${COUNTER}"
-      supervisorctl start "fetchmail-${COUNTER}"
+      supervisorctl start "fetchmail-${COUNTER}" || _panic__fail_init "fetchmail-${COUNTER}"
     done
   else
     _notify 'task' 'Starting fetchmail'
-    supervisorctl start fetchmail
+    supervisorctl start fetchmail || dms_panic__fail_init 'fetchmail'
   fi
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_clamav
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting clamav'
-  supervisorctl start clamav
+  supervisorctl start clamav || dms_panic__fail_init 'ClamAV'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_postgrey
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting postgrey'
   rm -f /var/run/postgrey/postgrey.pid
-  supervisorctl start postgrey
+  supervisorctl start postgrey || dms_panic__fail_init 'postgrey'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_amavis
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting amavis'
-  supervisorctl start amavis
+  supervisorctl start amavis || dms_panic__fail_init 'amavis'
 }
 
 function _start_changedetector
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting changedetector'
-  supervisorctl start changedetector
+  supervisorctl start changedetector || dms_panic__fail_init 'changedetector'
 }
 
 function _start_daemons_update_check
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Starting update-check'
-  supervisorctl start update-check
+  supervisorctl start update-check || dms_panic__fail_init 'update-check'
 }
diff --git a/target/scripts/startup/fixes-stack.sh b/target/scripts/startup/fixes-stack.sh
index 59f99f95..3f7aea10 100644
--- a/target/scripts/startup/fixes-stack.sh
+++ b/target/scripts/startup/fixes-stack.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ function fix
   _notify 'tasklog' 'Post-configuration checks'
   for FUNC in "${FUNCS_FIX[@]}"
   do
-    ${FUNC} || _defunc
+    ${FUNC}
   done
 
   _notify 'inf' 'Removing leftover PID files from a stop/start'
@@ -21,12 +21,10 @@ function _fix_var_mail_permissions
   if find /var/mail -maxdepth 3 -a \( \! -user 5000 -o \! -group 5000 \) | read -r
   then
     _notify 'inf' 'Fixing /var/mail permissions'
-    chown -R 5000:5000 /var/mail
+    chown -R 5000:5000 /var/mail || _shutdown 'Failed to fix /var/mail permissions'
   else
     _notify 'inf' 'Permissions in /var/mail look OK'
   fi
-
-  return 0
 }
 
 function _fix_var_amavis_permissions
@@ -35,21 +33,18 @@ function _fix_var_amavis_permissions
   [[ ${ONE_DIR} -eq 0 ]] && AMAVIS_STATE_DIR="/var/lib/amavis"
   [[ ! -e ${AMAVIS_STATE_DIR} ]] && return 0
 
-  _notify 'inf' 'Checking and fixing Amavis permissions'
-  chown -hR amavis:amavis "${AMAVIS_STATE_DIR}"
-
-  return 0
+  _notify 'inf' 'Fixing Amavis permissions'
+  chown -hR amavis:amavis "${AMAVIS_STATE_DIR}" || _shutdown 'Failed to fix Amavis permissions'
 }
 
 function _fix_cleanup_clamav
 {
-  _notify 'task' 'Cleaning up disabled Clamav'
-  rm -f /etc/logrotate.d/clamav-*
-  rm -f /etc/cron.d/clamav-freshclam
+  _notify 'task' 'Cleaning up disabled ClamAV'
+  rm /etc/logrotate.d/clamav-* /etc/cron.d/clamav-freshclam || _shutdown 'Failed to remove ClamAV configuration'
 }
 
 function _fix_cleanup_spamassassin
 {
   _notify 'task' 'Cleaning up disabled SpamAssassin'
-  rm -f /etc/cron.daily/spamassassin
+  rm /etc/cron.daily/spamassassin || _shutdown 'Failed to remove SpamAssassin configuration'
 }
diff --git a/target/scripts/startup/misc-stack.sh b/target/scripts/startup/misc-stack.sh
index b179a744..6a8f9395 100644
--- a/target/scripts/startup/misc-stack.sh
+++ b/target/scripts/startup/misc-stack.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ function start_misc
   _notify 'inf' 'Starting miscellaneous tasks'
   for FUNC in "${FUNCS_MISC[@]}"
   do
-    ${FUNC} || _defunc
+    ${FUNC}
   done
 }
 
diff --git a/target/scripts/startup/setup-stack.sh b/target/scripts/startup/setup-stack.sh
index ea99e7e2..f8306af2 100644
--- a/target/scripts/startup/setup-stack.sh
+++ b/target/scripts/startup/setup-stack.sh
@@ -373,8 +373,7 @@ function _setup_dovecot_local_user
   then
     if [[ ${ENABLE_LDAP} -eq 0 ]]
     then
-      _notify 'fatal' 'Unless using LDAP, you need at least 1 email account to start Dovecot.'
-      _defunc
+      _shutdown 'Unless using LDAP, you need at least 1 email account to start Dovecot.'
     fi
   fi
 }