diff --git a/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.h b/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.h
--- a/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.h
@@ -189,6 +189,10 @@
 int	elf_read_raw_data_alloc(struct elf_file *efile, off_t offset,
     size_t len, void **out);
 
+/* Reads a single string at the given offset from an ELF file. */
+int	elf_read_raw_string(struct elf_file *efile, off_t offset, char *dst,
+    size_t len);
+
 /*
  * Read relocated data from an ELF file and return it in a
  * dynamically-allocated buffer.  Note that no translation
diff --git a/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.c b/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.c
--- a/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef.c
@@ -549,7 +549,6 @@
 ef_seg_read_string(elf_file_t ef, GElf_Addr address, size_t len, char *dest)
 {
 	GElf_Off ofs;
-	int error;
 
 	ofs = ef_get_offset(ef, address);
 	if (ofs == 0) {
@@ -559,13 +558,7 @@
 		return (EFAULT);
 	}
 
-	error = elf_read_raw_data(ef->ef_efile, ofs, dest, len);
-	if (error != 0)
-		return (error);
-	if (strnlen(dest, len) == len)
-		return (EFAULT);
-
-	return (0);
+	return (elf_read_raw_string(ef->ef_efile, ofs, dest, len));
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef_obj.c b/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef_obj.c
--- a/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef_obj.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/kldxref/ef_obj.c
@@ -248,7 +248,6 @@
 ef_obj_seg_read_string(elf_file_t ef, GElf_Addr address, size_t len, char *dest)
 {
 	GElf_Off ofs;
-	int error;
 
 	ofs = ef_obj_get_offset(ef, address);
 	if (ofs == 0) {
@@ -258,13 +257,7 @@
 		return (EFAULT);
 	}
 
-	error = elf_read_raw_data(ef->ef_efile, ofs, dest, len);
-	if (error != 0)
-		return (error);
-	if (strnlen(dest, len) == len)
-		return (EFAULT);
-
-	return (0);
+	return (elf_read_raw_string(ef->ef_efile, ofs, dest, len));
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/usr.sbin/kldxref/elf.c b/usr.sbin/kldxref/elf.c
--- a/usr.sbin/kldxref/elf.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/kldxref/elf.c
@@ -197,6 +197,24 @@
 	return (0);
 }
 
+int
+elf_read_raw_string(struct elf_file *efile, off_t offset, char *dst, size_t len)
+{
+	ssize_t nread;
+
+	nread = pread(efile->ef_fd, dst, len, offset);
+	if (nread == -1)
+		return (errno);
+	if (nread == 0)
+		return (EIO);
+
+	/* A short read is ok so long as the data contains a terminator. */
+	if (strnlen(dst, nread) == nread)
+		return (EFAULT);
+
+	return (0);
+}
+
 int
 elf_read_data(struct elf_file *efile, Elf_Type type, off_t offset, size_t len,
     void **out)