diff --git a/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx b/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
index 0d0102ede8..4c44c832bc 100644
--- a/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmSystemTools.cxx
@@ -1645,20 +1645,6 @@ cmSystemTools::CopyResult cmSystemTools::CopySingleFile(
   return CopyResult::Success;
 }
 
-bool cmSystemTools::CopyFileIfNewer(std::string const& source,
-                                    std::string const& destination)
-{
-  return cmsys::SystemTools::CopyFileIfNewer(source, destination).IsSuccess();
-}
-
-bool cmSystemTools::CopyADirectory(std::string const& source,
-                                   std::string const& destination,
-                                   CopyWhen when)
-{
-  return cmsys::SystemTools::CopyADirectory(source, destination, when)
-    .IsSuccess();
-}
-
 bool cmSystemTools::RenameFile(std::string const& oldname,
                                std::string const& newname)
 {
diff --git a/Source/cmSystemTools.h b/Source/cmSystemTools.h
index 9330482937..946dea93c2 100644
--- a/Source/cmSystemTools.h
+++ b/Source/cmSystemTools.h
@@ -205,15 +205,6 @@ public:
                                    CopyInputRecent inputRecent,
                                    std::string* err = nullptr);
 
-  /** Copy a file if it is newer than the destination. */
-  static bool CopyFileIfNewer(std::string const& source,
-                              std::string const& destination);
-
-  /** Copy directory contents with specified copy behavior. */
-  static bool CopyADirectory(std::string const& source,
-                             std::string const& destination,
-                             CopyWhen when = CopyWhen::Always);
-
   enum class Replace
   {
     Yes,
diff --git a/Source/cmcmd.cxx b/Source/cmcmd.cxx
index 66abbc1bf2..019b366942 100644
--- a/Source/cmcmd.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmcmd.cxx
@@ -749,9 +749,11 @@ int cmcmd::ExecuteCMakeCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
       // If error occurs we want to continue copying next files.
       bool return_value = false;
       for (auto const& file : files) {
-        if (!cmsys::SystemTools::CopyFileAlways(file, *targetArg)) {
+        cmsys::SystemTools::CopyStatus const status =
+          cmSystemTools::CopyFileAlways(file, *targetArg);
+        if (!status) {
           std::cerr << "Error copying file \"" << file << "\" to \""
-                    << *targetArg << "\".\n";
+                    << *targetArg << "\": " << status.GetString() << '\n';
           return_value = true;
         }
       }
@@ -771,9 +773,12 @@ int cmcmd::ExecuteCMakeCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
       // If error occurs we want to continue copying next files.
       bool return_value = false;
       for (auto const& arg : cmMakeRange(args).advance(2).retreat(1)) {
-        if (!cmSystemTools::CopyFileIfDifferent(arg, args.back())) {
+        cmsys::SystemTools::CopyStatus const status =
+          cmSystemTools::CopyFileIfDifferent(arg, args.back());
+        if (!status) {
           std::cerr << "Error copying file (if different) from \"" << arg
-                    << "\" to \"" << args.back() << "\".\n";
+                    << "\" to \"" << args.back()
+                    << "\": " << status.GetString() << '\n';
           return_value = true;
         }
       }
@@ -793,9 +798,12 @@ int cmcmd::ExecuteCMakeCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
       // If error occurs we want to continue copying next files.
       bool return_value = false;
       for (auto const& arg : cmMakeRange(args).advance(2).retreat(1)) {
-        if (!cmSystemTools::CopyFileIfNewer(arg, args.back())) {
+        cmsys::SystemTools::CopyStatus const status =
+          cmSystemTools::CopyFileIfNewer(arg, args.back());
+        if (!status) {
           std::cerr << "Error copying file (if newer) from \"" << arg
-                    << "\" to \"" << args.back() << "\".\n";
+                    << "\" to \"" << args.back()
+                    << "\": " << status.GetString() << '\n';
           return_value = true;
         }
       }
@@ -818,9 +826,11 @@ int cmcmd::ExecuteCMakeCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
       }
 
       for (auto const& arg : cmMakeRange(args).advance(2).retreat(1)) {
-        if (!cmSystemTools::CopyADirectory(arg, args.back(), when)) {
+        cmsys::Status const status =
+          cmSystemTools::CopyADirectory(arg, args.back(), when);
+        if (!status) {
           std::cerr << "Error copying directory from \"" << arg << "\" to \""
-                    << args.back() << "\".\n";
+                    << args.back() << "\": " << status.GetString() << '\n';
           return_value = true;
         }
       }
@@ -1023,8 +1033,10 @@ int cmcmd::ExecuteCMakeCommand(std::vector<std::string> const& args,
       // If an error occurs, we want to continue making directories.
       bool return_value = false;
       for (auto const& arg : cmMakeRange(args).advance(2)) {
-        if (!cmSystemTools::MakeDirectory(arg)) {
-          std::cerr << "Error creating directory \"" << arg << "\".\n";
+        cmsys::Status const status = cmSystemTools::MakeDirectory(arg);
+        if (!status) {
+          std::cerr << "Error creating directory \"" << arg
+                    << "\": " << status.GetString() << '\n';
           return_value = true;
         }
       }
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory-three-source-files-target-is-file-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory-three-source-files-target-is-file-stderr.txt
index 6e1a614115..51209833d4 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory-three-source-files-target-is-file-stderr.txt
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory-three-source-files-target-is-file-stderr.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-^Error copying directory from .* to .*file_for_test\.txt\".*
-Error copying directory from .* to .*file_for_test\.txt\".*
-Error copying directory from .* to .*file_for_test\.txt\"\.$
+^Error copying directory from "[^"]+" to "[^"]+file_for_test\.txt": File exists
+Error copying directory from "[^"]+" to "[^"]+file_for_test\.txt": File exists
+Error copying directory from "[^"]+" to "[^"]+file_for_test\.txt": File exists$
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
index 248ebb4040..8533666c77 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_directory_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-^Error copying directory from ".+" to ".+"\.$
+^Error copying directory from "[^"]+" to "[^"]+": (No such file or directory|The system cannot find the path specified\.)$
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_different-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_different-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
index ce1099b329..f54f4ae3ca 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_different-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_different-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-^Error copying file \(if different\) from ".+" to ".+"\.$
+^Error copying file \(if different\) from "[^"]+" to "[^"]+": No such file or directory$
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
index 52e51bce07..cbe1f4643c 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_copy_if_newer-nonexistent-source-stderr.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-^Error copying file \(if newer\) from ".+" to ".+"\.$
+^Error copying file \(if newer\) from "[^"]+" to "[^"]+": No such file or directory$
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_make_directory-two-directories-and-file-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_make_directory-two-directories-and-file-stderr.txt
index 17c68ed21a..992a4b0f0b 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_make_directory-two-directories-and-file-stderr.txt
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/E_make_directory-two-directories-and-file-stderr.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-^Error creating directory .*file_for_test\.txt\"\.$
+^Error creating directory "[^"]+file_for_test\.txt": File exists$