diff --git a/ed25519/src/seed.cpp b/ed25519/src/seed.cpp
index d595cdc11..63da924c0 100644
--- a/ed25519/src/seed.cpp
+++ b/ed25519/src/seed.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // ignore warnings in this file
 #include "libtorrent/aux_/disable_warnings_push.hpp"
 
+#include <boost/system/error_code.hpp>
+#include <boost/system/system_error.hpp>
 #include "libtorrent/ed25519.hpp"
 
 #ifndef ED25519_NO_SEED
@@ -12,17 +14,19 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #endif
 
-int ed25519_create_seed(unsigned char *seed) {
+void ed25519_create_seed(unsigned char *seed) {
 #ifdef _WIN32
     HCRYPTPROV prov;
 
     if (!CryptAcquireContext(&prov, NULL, NULL, PROV_RSA_FULL, CRYPT_VERIFYCONTEXT))  {
-        return 1;
+        throw boost::system::system_error(boost::system::error_code(GetLastError()
+            , boost::system::system_category()));
     }
 
     if (!CryptGenRandom(prov, 32, seed))  {
         CryptReleaseContext(prov, 0);
-        return 1;
+        throw boost::system::system_error(boost::system::error_code(GetLastError()
+            , boost::system::system_category()));
     }
 
     CryptReleaseContext(prov, 0);
@@ -30,14 +34,17 @@ int ed25519_create_seed(unsigned char *seed) {
     FILE *f = fopen("/dev/urandom", "rb");
 
     if (f == NULL) {
-        return 1;
+        throw boost::system::system_error(boost::system::error_code(errno, boost::system::generic_category()));
+    }
+
+    int read = fread(seed, 1, 32, f);
+    if (read != 32) {
+        fclose(f);
+        throw boost::system::system_error(boost::system::error_code(errno, boost::system::generic_category()));
     }
 
-    fread(seed, 1, 32, f);
     fclose(f);
 #endif
-
-    return 0;
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/ed25519.hpp b/include/libtorrent/ed25519.hpp
index 970168077..bb343ccd0 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/ed25519.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/ed25519.hpp
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ enum
 extern "C" {
 
 #ifndef ED25519_NO_SEED
-int TORRENT_EXPORT ed25519_create_seed(unsigned char *seed);
+void TORRENT_EXPORT ed25519_create_seed(unsigned char *seed);
 #endif
 
 void TORRENT_EXPORT ed25519_create_keypair(unsigned char *public_key, unsigned char *private_key, const unsigned char *seed);