diff --git a/util/hb-shape.cc b/util/hb-shape.cc
index 06bb0adac..6b274ecc7 100644
--- a/util/hb-shape.cc
+++ b/util/hb-shape.cc
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ struct output_buffer_t : output_options_t
 
   void init (hb_buffer_t *buffer, const font_options_t *font_opts)
   {
-    get_file_handle ();
     gs = g_string_new (nullptr);
     line_no = 0;
     font = hb_font_reference (font_opts->font);
diff --git a/util/helper-cairo.hh b/util/helper-cairo.hh
index 948747da5..605f17e28 100644
--- a/util/helper-cairo.hh
+++ b/util/helper-cairo.hh
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ helper_cairo_create_context (double w, double h,
   const char *extension = out_opts->output_format;
   if (!extension) {
 #if HAVE_ISATTY
-    if (isatty (fileno (out_opts->get_file_handle ())))
+    if (isatty (fileno (out_opts->fp)))
     {
 #ifdef CAIRO_HAS_PNG_FUNCTIONS
       const char *name;
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ helper_cairo_create_context (double w, double h,
     content = CAIRO_CONTENT_COLOR_ALPHA;
 
   cairo_surface_t *surface;
-  FILE *f = out_opts->get_file_handle ();
+  FILE *f = out_opts->fp;
   if (constructor)
     surface = constructor (stdio_write_func, f, w, h);
   else if (constructor2)
diff --git a/util/output-options.hh b/util/output-options.hh
index f3fda61e3..c86096098 100644
--- a/util/output-options.hh
+++ b/util/output-options.hh
@@ -42,56 +42,49 @@ struct output_options_t
   void add_options (option_parser_t *parser,
 		    const char **supported_formats = nullptr);
 
-  void post_parse (GError **error G_GNUC_UNUSED)
-  {
-    if (output_format)
-      explicit_output_format = true;
-
-    if (output_file && !output_format) {
-      output_format = strrchr (output_file, '.');
-      if (output_format)
-      {
-	  output_format++; /* skip the dot */
-	  output_format = g_strdup (output_format);
-      }
-    }
-
-    if (output_file && 0 == strcmp (output_file, "-"))
-      output_file = nullptr; /* STDOUT */
-  }
-
-  FILE *get_file_handle ();
+  void post_parse (GError **error G_GNUC_UNUSED);
 
   char *output_file = nullptr;
   char *output_format = nullptr;
-  bool explicit_output_format = false;
 
-  mutable FILE *fp = nullptr;
+  bool explicit_output_format = false;
+  FILE *fp = nullptr;
 };
 
-
-FILE *
-output_options_t::get_file_handle ()
+void
+output_options_t::post_parse (GError **error)
 {
-  if (fp)
-    return fp;
+  if (output_format)
+    explicit_output_format = true;
+
+  if (output_file && !output_format)
+  {
+    output_format = strrchr (output_file, '.');
+    if (output_format)
+    {
+	output_format++; /* skip the dot */
+	output_format = g_strdup (output_format);
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (output_file && 0 == strcmp (output_file, "-"))
+    output_file = nullptr; /* STDOUT */
 
   if (output_file)
     fp = fopen (output_file, "wb");
-  else {
+  else
+  {
 #if defined(_WIN32) || defined(__CYGWIN__)
     setmode (fileno (stdout), O_BINARY);
 #endif
     fp = stdout;
   }
   if (!fp)
-    fail (false, "Cannot open output file `%s': %s",
-	  g_filename_display_name (output_file), strerror (errno));
-
-  return fp;
+    g_set_error (error, G_OPTION_ERROR, G_OPTION_ERROR_FAILED,
+		 "Cannot open output file `%s': %s",
+		 g_filename_display_name (output_file), strerror (errno));
 }
 
-
 void
 output_options_t::add_options (option_parser_t *parser,
 			       const char **supported_formats)