diff --git a/pbc b/pbc
index 02fa4fa..734530a 100755
--- a/pbc
+++ b/pbc
@@ -303,8 +303,7 @@ case "$action" in
     args=("${args[@]:1}")
 
     PS3="Snapshot group [1-${#groups[@]}]: "
-    group=$(may_select "$group" "${groups[@]}")
-    (( $? != 0 )) && echo "Error: invalid group" >&2 && exit 1
+    group=$(may_select "$group" "${groups[@]}") || { echo "Error: invalid group" >&2; exit 1; }
 
     echo
     pbc-snapshot-list "$group" "${args[@]}" || exit $?
@@ -317,8 +316,7 @@ case "$action" in
     args=("${args[@]:1}")
 
     PS3="Snapshot [1-${#snapshots[@]}]: "
-    snapshot=$(may_select "$snapshot" "${snapshots[@]}")
-    (( $? != 0 )) && echo "Error: invalid snapshot" >&2 && exit 1
+    snapshot=$(may_select "$snapshot" "${snapshots[@]}") || { echo "Error: invalid snapshot" >&2; exit 1; }
 
     readarray -t archives < <(get_snapshot_files "$snapshot")
     (( ${#archives[@]} == 0 )) && echo "no archives found" && exit 0
@@ -327,8 +325,7 @@ case "$action" in
     args=("${args[@]:1}")
 
     PS3="Archive [1-${#archives[@]}]: "
-    archive=$(may_select "$archive" "${archives[@]}")
-    (( $? != 0 )) && echo "Error: invalid archive" >&2 && exit 1
+    archive=$(may_select "$archive" "${archives[@]}") || { echo "Error: invalid archive" >&2; exit 1; }
 
     echo
     pbc-catalog-shell "$snapshot" "$archive" || exit $?
@@ -341,8 +338,7 @@ case "$action" in
     args=("${args[@]:1}")
 
     PS3="Snapshot [1-${#snapshots[@]}]: "
-    snapshot=$(may_select "$snapshot" "${snapshots[@]}")
-    (( $? != 0 )) && echo "Error: invalid snapshot" >&2 && exit 1
+    snapshot=$(may_select "$snapshot" "${snapshots[@]}") || { echo "Error: invalid snapshot" >&2; exit 1; }
 
     readarray -t archives < <(get_snapshot_files "$snapshot")
     (( ${#archives[@]} == 0 )) && echo "no archives found" && exit 0
@@ -351,8 +347,7 @@ case "$action" in
     args=("${args[@]:1}")
 
     PS3="Archive [1-${#archives[@]}]: "
-    archive=$(may_select "$archive" "${archives[@]}")
-    (( $? != 0 )) && echo "Error: invalid archive" >&2 && exit 1
+    archive=$(may_select "$archive" "${archives[@]}") || { echo "Error: invalid archive" >&2; exit 1; }
 
     target=${args[0]}
     args=("${args[@]:1}")