diff --git a/lib/std/fs/Dir.zig b/lib/std/fs/Dir.zig
index 4ebec1ce14..a863eda3f9 100644
--- a/lib/std/fs/Dir.zig
+++ b/lib/std/fs/Dir.zig
@@ -2447,10 +2447,7 @@ pub const AccessError = posix.AccessError;
 /// open it and handle the error for file not found.
 pub fn access(self: Dir, sub_path: []const u8, flags: File.OpenFlags) AccessError!void {
     if (native_os == .windows) {
-        const sub_path_w = windows.sliceToPrefixedFileW(self.fd, sub_path) catch |err| switch (err) {
-            error.AccessDenied => return error.PermissionDenied,
-            else => |e| return e,
-        };
+        const sub_path_w = try windows.sliceToPrefixedFileW(self.fd, sub_path);
         return self.accessW(sub_path_w.span().ptr, flags);
     }
     const path_c = try posix.toPosixPath(sub_path);
@@ -2460,10 +2457,7 @@ pub fn access(self: Dir, sub_path: []const u8, flags: File.OpenFlags) AccessErro
 /// Same as `access` except the path parameter is null-terminated.
 pub fn accessZ(self: Dir, sub_path: [*:0]const u8, flags: File.OpenFlags) AccessError!void {
     if (native_os == .windows) {
-        const sub_path_w = windows.cStrToPrefixedFileW(self.fd, sub_path) catch |err| switch (err) {
-            error.AccessDenied => return error.PermissionDenied,
-            else => |e| return e,
-        };
+        const sub_path_w = try windows.cStrToPrefixedFileW(self.fd, sub_path);
         return self.accessW(sub_path_w.span().ptr, flags);
     }
     const os_mode = switch (flags.mode) {
diff --git a/lib/std/os/windows.zig b/lib/std/os/windows.zig
index c29eb0f05a..776173f7e0 100644
--- a/lib/std/os/windows.zig
+++ b/lib/std/os/windows.zig
@@ -1517,7 +1517,7 @@ pub fn GetFileSizeEx(hFile: HANDLE) GetFileSizeError!u64 {
 
 pub const GetFileAttributesError = error{
     FileNotFound,
-    PermissionDenied,
+    AccessDenied,
     Unexpected,
 };
 
@@ -1532,7 +1532,7 @@ pub fn GetFileAttributesW(lpFileName: [*:0]const u16) GetFileAttributesError!DWO
         switch (GetLastError()) {
             .FILE_NOT_FOUND => return error.FileNotFound,
             .PATH_NOT_FOUND => return error.FileNotFound,
-            .ACCESS_DENIED => return error.PermissionDenied,
+            .ACCESS_DENIED => return error.AccessDenied,
             else => |err| return unexpectedError(err),
         }
     }
@@ -1747,12 +1747,12 @@ pub fn GetModuleFileNameW(hModule: ?HMODULE, buf_ptr: [*]u16, buf_len: DWORD) Ge
     return buf_ptr[0..rc :0];
 }
 
-pub const TerminateProcessError = error{ PermissionDenied, Unexpected };
+pub const TerminateProcessError = error{ AccessDenied, Unexpected };
 
 pub fn TerminateProcess(hProcess: HANDLE, uExitCode: UINT) TerminateProcessError!void {
     if (kernel32.TerminateProcess(hProcess, uExitCode) == 0) {
         switch (GetLastError()) {
-            Win32Error.ACCESS_DENIED => return error.PermissionDenied,
+            Win32Error.ACCESS_DENIED => return error.AccessDenied,
             else => |err| return unexpectedError(err),
         }
     }
diff --git a/lib/std/posix.zig b/lib/std/posix.zig
index f920784ca5..b3e0d37fca 100644
--- a/lib/std/posix.zig
+++ b/lib/std/posix.zig
@@ -4896,10 +4896,7 @@ pub const AccessError = error{
 /// Windows. See `fs` for the cross-platform file system API.
 pub fn access(path: []const u8, mode: u32) AccessError!void {
     if (native_os == .windows) {
-        const path_w = windows.sliceToPrefixedFileW(null, path) catch |err| switch (err) {
-            error.AccessDenied => return error.PermissionDenied,
-            else => |e| return e,
-        };
+        const path_w = try windows.sliceToPrefixedFileW(null, path);
         _ = try windows.GetFileAttributesW(path_w.span().ptr);
         return;
     } else if (native_os == .wasi and !builtin.link_libc) {
@@ -4912,10 +4909,7 @@ pub fn access(path: []const u8, mode: u32) AccessError!void {
 /// Same as `access` except `path` is null-terminated.
 pub fn accessZ(path: [*:0]const u8, mode: u32) AccessError!void {
     if (native_os == .windows) {
-        const path_w = windows.cStrToPrefixedFileW(null, path) catch |err| switch (err) {
-            error.AccessDenied => return error.PermissionDenied,
-            else => |e| return e,
-        };
+        const path_w = try windows.cStrToPrefixedFileW(null, path);
         _ = try windows.GetFileAttributesW(path_w.span().ptr);
         return;
     } else if (native_os == .wasi and !builtin.link_libc) {
diff --git a/lib/std/process/Child.zig b/lib/std/process/Child.zig
index 8a4cab5e83..39fc74ece8 100644
--- a/lib/std/process/Child.zig
+++ b/lib/std/process/Child.zig
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ pub fn killWindows(self: *ChildProcess, exit_code: windows.UINT) !Term {
     }
 
     windows.TerminateProcess(self.id, exit_code) catch |err| switch (err) {
-        error.PermissionDenied => {
+        error.AccessDenied => {
             // Usually when TerminateProcess triggers a ACCESS_DENIED error, it
             // indicates that the process has already exited, but there may be
             // some rare edge cases where our process handle no longer has the