diff --git a/data/factoids.sqlite3 b/data/factoids.sqlite3
index 87e9e487..0629b9f9 100644
Binary files a/data/factoids.sqlite3 and b/data/factoids.sqlite3 differ
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core.pm b/lib/PBot/Core.pm
index 9dd77f83..c97e7ea7 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core.pm
@@ -58,15 +58,18 @@ use PBot::Core::Users;
 use PBot::Core::Utils::ParseDate;
 use PBot::Core::WebPaste;
 
+use POSIX qw/EXIT_FAILURE EXIT_SUCCESS/;
 use Encode;
 use File::Basename;
 
-# set standard output streams to encode as utf8
-binmode(STDOUT, ":utf8");
-binmode(STDERR, ":utf8");
+BEGIN {
+    # set standard output streams to encode as utf8
+    binmode(STDOUT, ":utf8");
+    binmode(STDERR, ":utf8");
 
-# decode command-line arguments from utf8
-@ARGV = map { decode('UTF-8', $_, 1) } @ARGV;
+    # decode command-line arguments from utf8
+    @ARGV = map { decode('UTF-8', $_, 1) } @ARGV;
+}
 
 sub new {
     my ($class, %args) = @_;
@@ -96,14 +99,14 @@ sub initialize {
 
             if (not defined $item or not defined $value) {
                 print STDERR "Fatal error: unknown argument `$arg`; arguments must be in the form of `section.key=value` or `path_dir=value` (e.g.: irc.botnick=newnick or data_dir=path)\n";
-                exit;
+                exit EXIT_FAILURE;
             }
 
             my ($section, $key) = split /\./, $item, 2;
 
             if (not defined $section or not defined $key) {
                 print STDERR "Fatal error: bad argument `$arg`; registry entries must be in the form of section.key (e.g.: irc.botnick)\n";
-                exit;
+                exit EXIT_FAILURE;
             }
 
             $section =~ s/^-//;    # remove a leading - to allow arguments like -irc.botnick due to habitual use of -args
@@ -115,14 +118,14 @@ sub initialize {
     foreach my $path (qw/data_dir applet_dir update_dir/) {
         if (not -d $conf{$path}) {
             print STDERR "$path path ($conf{$path}) does not exist; aborting.\n";
-            exit;
+            exit EXIT_FAILURE;
         }
     }
 
     # insist that data directory be copied
     if (basename($conf{data_dir}) eq 'data') {
         print STDERR "Data directory ($conf{data_dir}) cannot be named `data`. This is to ensure the directory is copied from its default location. Please follow doc/QuickStart.md.\n";
-        exit;
+        exit EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
 
     # let modules register atexit subroutines
@@ -151,9 +154,9 @@ sub initialize {
 
     # update any data files to new locations/formats
     # --- this must happen before any data files are opened! ---
-    if ($self->{updater}->update) {
+    if ($self->{updater}->update != EXIT_SUCCESS) {
         $self->{logger}->log("Update failed.\n");
-        exit 0;
+        exit EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
 
     # create capabilities so commands can add new capabilities
@@ -167,8 +170,8 @@ sub initialize {
 
     # ensure user has attempted to configure the bot
     if (not length $self->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'botnick')) {
-        $self->{logger}->log("Fatal error: IRC nickname not defined; please set registry key irc.botnick in $conf{data_dir}/registry to continue.\n");
-        exit;
+        $self->{logger}->log("Fatal error: IRC nickname not defined; please set registry key irc.botnick in $conf{data_dir}/registry to continue. See doc/QuickStart.md for more information.\n");
+        exit EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
 
     # prepare the IRC engine
@@ -234,11 +237,8 @@ sub random_nick {
 # TODO: add disconnect subroutine and connect/disconnect/reconnect commands
 sub connect {
     my ($self) = @_;
-    return if $ENV{PBOT_LOCAL};
 
-    if ($self->{connected}) {
-        # TODO: disconnect, clean-up, etc
-    }
+    return if $ENV{PBOT_LOCAL};
 
     my $server  = $self->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'server');
     my $port    = $self->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'port');
@@ -247,6 +247,11 @@ sub connect {
 
     $self->{logger}->log("Connecting to $server:$port\n");
 
+    if ($self->{conn}) {
+        $self->{logger}->log("Error: already connected to $server:$port!\n");
+        return;
+    }
+
     for (my $attempt = 0; $attempt < $retries; $attempt++) {
         my %config = (
             Nick        => $self->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'randomize_nick') ? $self->random_nick : $self->{registry}->get_value('irc', 'botnick'),
@@ -285,7 +290,10 @@ sub connect {
         sleep $delay;
     }
 
-    $self->{connected} = 1;
+    if (!$self->{conn}) {
+        $self->{logger}->log("Max retries reached; giving up.\n");
+        $self->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
 
     # set up IRC handlers
     $self->{irchandlers}->add_handlers;
@@ -302,7 +310,7 @@ sub register_signal_handlers {
             print $msg;
         }
         $self->atexit;
-        exit 0;
+        exit EXIT_SUCCESS;
     };
 }
 
@@ -320,7 +328,7 @@ sub atexit {
 # convenient function to exit PBot
 sub exit {
     my ($self, $exitval) = @_;
-    $exitval //= 0;
+    $exitval //= EXIT_SUCCESS;
 
     my $msg = "Exiting immediately.\n";
 
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm
index 1cca8b8d..c22575b7 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/SASL.pm
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ package PBot::Core::Handlers::SASL;
 use PBot::Imports;
 use parent 'PBot::Core::Class';
 
+use POSIX qw/EXIT_SUCCESS EXIT_FAILURE/;
 use Encode;
 use MIME::Base64;
 
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ sub on_sasl_authenticate {
 
     if (not defined $password or not length $password) {
         $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Error: Registry entry irc.identify_password is not set.\n");
-        $self->{pbot}->exit;
+        $self->{pbot}->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
     $password = encode('UTF-8', "$nick\0$nick\0$password");
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ sub on_rpl_loggedout {
 sub on_err_nicklocked {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
     $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log($event->{event}->{args}->[1] . "\n");
-    $self->{pbot}->exit;
+    $self->{pbot}->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }
 
 sub on_rpl_saslsuccess {
@@ -85,19 +86,19 @@ sub on_rpl_saslsuccess {
 sub on_err_saslfail {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
     $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log($event->{event}->{args}->[1] . "\n");
-    $self->{pbot}->exit;
+    $self->{pbot}->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }
 
 sub on_err_sasltoolong {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
     $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log($event->{event}->{args}->[1] . "\n");
-    $self->{pbot}->exit;
+    $self->{pbot}->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }
 
 sub on_err_saslaborted {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
     $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log($event->{event}->{args}->[1] . "\n");
-    $self->{pbot}->exit;
+    $self->{pbot}->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }
 
 sub on_err_saslalready {
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ sub on_rpl_saslmechs {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
     $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("SASL mechanism not available.\n");
     $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Available mechanisms are: $event->{event}->{args}->[1]\n");
-    $self->{pbot}->exit;
+    $self->{pbot}->exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }
 
 1;
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Server.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Server.pm
index 7353fb87..f8219f34 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Server.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Handlers/Server.pm
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ sub on_disconnect {
     my ($self, $event_type, $event) = @_;
 
     $self->{pbot}->{logger}->log("Disconnected...\n");
-    $self->{pbot}->{connected} = 0;
+    $self->{pbot}->{conn} = undef;
 
     # send pbot.disconnect to notify PBot internals
     $self->{pbot}->{event_dispatcher}->dispatch_event(
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
index 1a4891b8..f4bdf679 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Interpreter.pm
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ sub process_line {
 
     # set $context's command output recipient field
     if ($nick_prefix) {
-        $context->{nickprefix}         = $nick_prefix;
+        $context->{nickprefix}        = $nick_prefix;
         $context->{nickprefix_forced} = 1;
     }
 
diff --git a/lib/PBot/Core/Registry.pm b/lib/PBot/Core/Registry.pm
index 48ca924e..94a4585f 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/Core/Registry.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/Core/Registry.pm
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ sub trigger_irc_debug {
 
     $self->{pbot}->{irc}->debug($newvalue);
 
-    if ($self->{pbot}->{connected}) {
+    if ($self->{pbot}->{conn}) {
         $self->{pbot}->{conn}->debug($newvalue);
     }
 }
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ sub trigger_irc_debug {
 sub trigger_change_botnick {
     my ($self, $section, $item, $newvalue) = @_;
 
-    if ($self->{pbot}->{connected}) {
+    if ($self->{pbot}->{conn}) {
         $self->{pbot}->{conn}->nick($newvalue)
     }
 }
diff --git a/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm b/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
index f27bf0ae..4683c195 100644
--- a/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
+++ b/lib/PBot/VERSION.pm
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ use PBot::Imports;
 # These are set by the /misc/update_version script
 use constant {
     BUILD_NAME     => "PBot",
-    BUILD_REVISION => 4557,
-    BUILD_DATE     => "2022-07-09",
+    BUILD_REVISION => 4558,
+    BUILD_DATE     => "2022-07-10",
 };
 
 sub initialize {}