diff --git a/kernel/src/actions/deletion_vector.rs b/kernel/src/actions/deletion_vector.rs
index 201bdc877..8f5079106 100644
--- a/kernel/src/actions/deletion_vector.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/actions/deletion_vector.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use delta_kernel_derive::Schema;
 use roaring::RoaringTreemap;
 use url::Url;
 
+use crate::utils::require;
 use crate::{DeltaResult, Error, FileSystemClient};
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Schema)]
@@ -55,11 +56,10 @@ impl DeletionVectorDescriptor {
         match self.storage_type.as_str() {
             "u" => {
                 let path_len = self.path_or_inline_dv.len();
-                if path_len < 20 {
-                    return Err(Error::deletion_vector(
-                        "Invalid length {path_len}, must be >20",
-                    ));
-                }
+                require!(
+                    path_len >= 20,
+                    Error::deletion_vector("Invalid length {path_len}, must be >= 20",)
+                );
                 let prefix_len = path_len - 20;
                 let decoded = z85::decode(&self.path_or_inline_dv[prefix_len..])
                     .map_err(|_| Error::deletion_vector("Failed to decode DV uuid"))?;
@@ -128,24 +128,26 @@ impl DeletionVectorDescriptor {
                     .read(&mut version_buf)
                     .map_err(|err| Error::DeletionVector(err.to_string()))?;
                 let version = u8::from_be_bytes(version_buf);
-                if version != 1 {
-                    return Err(Error::DeletionVector(format!("Invalid version: {version}")));
-                }
+                require!(
+                    version == 1,
+                    Error::DeletionVector(format!("Invalid version: {version}"))
+                );
 
                 if let Some(offset) = offset {
                     cursor.set_position(offset as u64);
                 }
                 let dv_size = read_u32(&mut cursor, Endian::Big)?;
-                if dv_size != size_in_bytes as u32 {
-                    return Err(Error::DeletionVector(format!(
+                require!(
+                    dv_size == size_in_bytes as u32,
+                    Error::DeletionVector(format!(
                         "DV size mismatch. Log indicates {size_in_bytes}, file says: {dv_size}"
-                    )));
-                }
+                    ))
+                );
                 let magic = read_u32(&mut cursor, Endian::Little)?;
-
-                if magic != 1681511377 {
-                    return Err(Error::DeletionVector(format!("Invalid magic: {magic}")));
-                }
+                require!(
+                    magic == 1681511377,
+                    Error::DeletionVector(format!("Invalid magic: {magic}"))
+                );
 
                 // get the Bytes back out and limit it to dv_size
                 let position = cursor.position();
diff --git a/kernel/src/engine/arrow_data.rs b/kernel/src/engine/arrow_data.rs
index 91b3f7555..bc6bf8e3a 100644
--- a/kernel/src/engine/arrow_data.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/engine/arrow_data.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use crate::engine_data::{EngineData, EngineList, EngineMap, GetData};
 use crate::schema::{DataType, PrimitiveType, Schema, SchemaRef, StructField};
+use crate::utils::require;
 use crate::{DataVisitor, DeltaResult, Error};
 
 use arrow_array::cast::AsArray;
@@ -271,20 +272,22 @@ impl ArrowEngineData {
                 if let ArrowDataType::Struct(fields) = map_field.data_type() {
                     let mut fcount = 0;
                     for field in fields {
-                        if field.data_type() != &ArrowDataType::Utf8 {
-                            return Err(Error::UnexpectedColumnType(format!(
+                        require!(
+                            field.data_type() == &ArrowDataType::Utf8,
+                            Error::UnexpectedColumnType(format!(
                                 "On {}: Only support maps of String->String",
                                 field.name()
-                            )));
-                        }
+                            ))
+                        );
                         fcount += 1;
                     }
-                    if fcount != 2 {
-                        return Err(Error::UnexpectedColumnType(format!(
+                    require!(
+                        fcount == 2,
+                        Error::UnexpectedColumnType(format!(
                             "On {}: Expect map field struct to have two fields",
                             field.name()
-                        )));
-                    }
+                        ))
+                    );
                     debug!("Pushing map for {}", field.name);
                     out_col_array.push(col.as_map());
                 } else {
diff --git a/kernel/src/engine/arrow_utils.rs b/kernel/src/engine/arrow_utils.rs
index 629e2ebf0..081ae1756 100644
--- a/kernel/src/engine/arrow_utils.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/engine/arrow_utils.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use crate::{schema::SchemaRef, DeltaResult, Error};
+use crate::{schema::SchemaRef, utils::require, DeltaResult, Error};
 
 use arrow_array::RecordBatch;
 use arrow_schema::{Schema as ArrowSchema, SchemaRef as ArrowSchemaRef};
@@ -33,11 +33,10 @@ pub(crate) fn get_requested_indices(
                 .map(|index| (parquet_index, index))
         })
         .unzip();
-    if mask_indicies.len() != requested_schema.fields.len() {
-        return Err(Error::generic(
-            "Didn't find all requested columns in parquet schema",
-        ));
-    }
+    require!(
+        mask_indicies.len() == requested_schema.fields.len(),
+        Error::generic("Didn't find all requested columns in parquet schema")
+    );
     Ok((mask_indicies, reorder_indicies))
 }
 
diff --git a/kernel/src/engine/sync/json.rs b/kernel/src/engine/sync/json.rs
index 1b1c8fe90..855f8ccbe 100644
--- a/kernel/src/engine/sync/json.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/engine/sync/json.rs
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ use std::{
 };
 
 use crate::{
-    schema::SchemaRef, DeltaResult, EngineData, Error, Expression, FileDataReadResultIterator,
-    FileMeta, JsonHandler,
+    schema::SchemaRef, utils::require, DeltaResult, EngineData, Error, Expression,
+    FileDataReadResultIterator, FileMeta, JsonHandler,
 };
 use arrow_array::{cast::AsArray, RecordBatch};
 use arrow_json::ReaderBuilder;
@@ -65,9 +65,10 @@ impl JsonHandler for SyncJsonHandler {
         // TODO: This is taken from the default engine as it's the same. We should share an
         // implementation at some point
         let json_strings: RecordBatch = ArrowEngineData::try_from_engine_data(json_strings)?.into();
-        if json_strings.num_columns() != 1 {
-            return Err(Error::missing_column("Expected single column"));
-        }
+        require!(
+            json_strings.num_columns() == 1,
+            Error::missing_column("Expected single column")
+        );
         let json_strings =
             json_strings
                 .column(0)
diff --git a/kernel/src/expressions/scalars.rs b/kernel/src/expressions/scalars.rs
index 5165e7ad3..5f8b9a55d 100644
--- a/kernel/src/expressions/scalars.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/expressions/scalars.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use std::fmt::{Display, Formatter};
 use chrono::{DateTime, NaiveDate, NaiveDateTime, TimeZone, Utc};
 
 use crate::schema::{DataType, PrimitiveType};
+use crate::utils::require;
 use crate::Error;
 
 /// A single value, which can be null. Used for representing literal values
@@ -225,9 +226,7 @@ impl PrimitiveType {
                 (base, exp[1..].parse()?)
             }
         };
-        if base.is_empty() {
-            return Err(self.parse_error(raw));
-        }
+        require!(!base.is_empty(), self.parse_error(raw));
 
         // now split on any '.' and parse
         let (int_part, frac_part, frac_digits) = match base.find('.') {
@@ -249,9 +248,7 @@ impl PrimitiveType {
         // most i128::MAX, and 0-i128::MAX doesn't underflow
         let scale = frac_digits - exp;
         let scale: i8 = scale.try_into().map_err(|_| self.parse_error(raw))?;
-        if scale != expected_scale {
-            return Err(self.parse_error(raw));
-        }
+        require!(scale == expected_scale, self.parse_error(raw));
 
         let int: i128 = match frac_part {
             None => int_part.parse()?,
diff --git a/kernel/src/lib.rs b/kernel/src/lib.rs
index 1050d7668..7e297b5cb 100644
--- a/kernel/src/lib.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/lib.rs
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ pub mod schema;
 pub mod snapshot;
 pub mod table;
 pub mod transaction;
+pub(crate) mod utils;
 
 pub use engine_data::{DataVisitor, EngineData};
 pub use error::{DeltaResult, Error};
diff --git a/kernel/src/schema.rs b/kernel/src/schema.rs
index faba56c6e..ee5f755dd 100644
--- a/kernel/src/schema.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/schema.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use indexmap::IndexMap;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
+use crate::utils::require;
 use crate::{DeltaResult, Error};
 
 pub type Schema = StructType;
@@ -342,12 +343,10 @@ where
     D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
 {
     let str_value = String::deserialize(deserializer)?;
-    if !str_value.starts_with("decimal(") || !str_value.ends_with(')') {
-        return Err(serde::de::Error::custom(format!(
-            "Invalid decimal: {}",
-            str_value
-        )));
-    }
+    require!(
+        str_value.starts_with("decimal(") && str_value.ends_with(')'),
+        serde::de::Error::custom(format!("Invalid decimal: {}", str_value))
+    );
 
     let mut parts = str_value[8..str_value.len() - 1].split(',');
     let precision = parts
diff --git a/kernel/src/snapshot.rs b/kernel/src/snapshot.rs
index 15003bcc3..d22850d7a 100644
--- a/kernel/src/snapshot.rs
+++ b/kernel/src/snapshot.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use url::Url;
 use crate::actions::{get_log_schema, Metadata, Protocol, METADATA_NAME, PROTOCOL_NAME};
 use crate::path::{version_from_location, LogPath};
 use crate::schema::{Schema, SchemaRef};
+use crate::utils::require;
 use crate::{DeltaResult, Engine, Error, FileMeta, FileSystemClient, Version};
 use crate::{EngineData, Expression};
 
@@ -163,10 +164,10 @@ impl Snapshot {
             .ok_or(Error::MissingVersion)?; // TODO: A more descriptive error
 
         if let Some(v) = version {
-            if version_eff != v {
-                // TODO more descriptive error
-                return Err(Error::MissingVersion);
-            }
+            require!(
+                version_eff == v,
+                Error::MissingVersion // TODO more descriptive error
+            );
         }
 
         let log_segment = LogSegment {
diff --git a/kernel/src/utils.rs b/kernel/src/utils.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3dbef02c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel/src/utils.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+//! Various utility functions/macros used throughout the kernel
+
+/// convenient way to return an error if a condition isn't true
+macro_rules! require {
+    ( $cond:expr, $err:expr ) => {
+        if !($cond) {
+            return Err($err);
+        }
+    };
+}
+
+pub(crate) use require;