diff --git a/emcc.py b/emcc.py
index 5bc913fa1875..af5d78884d30 100755
--- a/emcc.py
+++ b/emcc.py
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@
 
 LIB_PREFIXES = ('', 'lib')
 
-
 DEFERRED_RESPONSE_FILES = ('EMTERPRETIFY_BLACKLIST', 'EMTERPRETIFY_WHITELIST', 'EMTERPRETIFY_SYNCLIST')
 
 # Mapping of emcc opt levels to llvm opt levels. We use llvm opt level 3 in emcc
@@ -1733,11 +1732,11 @@ def compile_source_file(i, input_file):
             # we have multiple files: Link them
             logger.debug('link: ' + str(linker_inputs) + specified_target)
             shared.Building.link_to_object(linker_inputs, specified_target)
-        logger.debug('stopping at bitcode')
+        logger.debug('stopping at object file')
         if shared.Settings.SIDE_MODULE:
-          exit_with_error('SIDE_MODULE must only be used when compiling to an executable shared library, and not when emitting LLVM bitcode. That is, you should be emitting a .wasm file (for wasm) or a .js file (for asm.js). Note that when compiling to a typical native suffix for a shared library (.so, .dylib, .dll; which many build systems do) then Emscripten emits an LLVM bitcode file, which you should then compile to .wasm or .js with SIDE_MODULE.')
+          exit_with_error('SIDE_MODULE must only be used when compiling to an executable shared library, and not when emitting an object file.  That is, you should be emitting a .wasm file (for wasm) or a .js file (for asm.js). Note that when compiling to a typical native suffix for a shared library (.so, .dylib, .dll; which many build systems do) then Emscripten emits an object file, which you should then compile to .wasm or .js with SIDE_MODULE.')
         if final_suffix.lower() in ('.so', '.dylib', '.dll'):
-          logger.warning('When Emscripten compiles to a typical native suffix for shared libraries (.so, .dylib, .dll) then it emits an LLVM bitcode file. You should then compile that to an emscripten SIDE_MODULE (using that flag) with suffix .wasm (for wasm) or .js (for asm.js). (You may also want to adapt your build system to emit the more standard suffix for a file with LLVM bitcode, \'.bc\', which would avoid this warning.)')
+          logger.warning('When Emscripten compiles to a typical native suffix for shared libraries (.so, .dylib, .dll) then it emits an object file. You should then compile that to an emscripten SIDE_MODULE (using that flag) with suffix .wasm (for wasm) or .js (for asm.js). (You may also want to adapt your build system to emit the more standard suffix for a an object file, \'.bc\' or \'.o\', which would avoid this warning.)')
         return 0
 
     # exit block 'process inputs'
@@ -2715,6 +2714,7 @@ def do_binaryen(target, asm_target, options, memfile, wasm_binary_target,
     if not DEBUG:
       os.unlink(asm_target) # we don't need the asm.js, it can just confuse
 
+  # after generating the wasm, do some final operations
   if shared.Settings.EMIT_EMSCRIPTEN_METADATA:
     wso = shared.WebAssembly.add_emscripten_metadata(final, wasm_binary_target)
     shutil.move(wso, wasm_binary_target)
diff --git a/tests/test_other.py b/tests/test_other.py
index 87942ce0b4b6..517313d4acef 100644
--- a/tests/test_other.py
+++ b/tests/test_other.py
@@ -3827,8 +3827,9 @@ def test_warn_dylibs(self):
     shared_suffixes = ['.so', '.dylib', '.dll']
 
     for suffix in ['.o', '.a', '.bc', '.so', '.lib', '.dylib', '.js', '.html']:
-      err = run_process([PYTHON, EMCC, path_from_root('tests', 'hello_world.c'), '-o', 'out' + suffix], stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE).stderr
-      warning = 'When Emscripten compiles to a typical native suffix for shared libraries (.so, .dylib, .dll) then it emits an LLVM bitcode file. You should then compile that to an emscripten SIDE_MODULE (using that flag) with suffix .wasm (for wasm) or .js (for asm.js).'
+      print(suffix)
+      err = run_process([PYTHON, EMCC, path_from_root('tests', 'hello_world.c'), '-o', 'out' + suffix], stderr=PIPE).stderr
+      warning = 'When Emscripten compiles to a typical native suffix for shared libraries (.so, .dylib, .dll) then it emits an object file. You should then compile that to an emscripten SIDE_MODULE (using that flag) with suffix .wasm (for wasm) or .js (for asm.js).'
       if suffix in shared_suffixes:
         self.assertContained(warning, err)
       else:
@@ -3840,9 +3841,9 @@ def test_side_module_without_proper_target(self):
     # otherwise, we are just linking bitcode, and should show an error
     for wasm in [0, 1]:
       print(wasm)
-      process = run_process([PYTHON, EMCC, path_from_root('tests', 'hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'SIDE_MODULE=1', '-o', 'a.so', '-s', 'WASM=%d' % wasm], stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE, check=False)
-      self.assertContained('SIDE_MODULE must only be used when compiling to an executable shared library, and not when emitting LLVM bitcode', process.stderr)
-      assert process.returncode is not 0
+      process = run_process([PYTHON, EMCC, path_from_root('tests', 'hello_world.cpp'), '-s', 'SIDE_MODULE=1', '-o', 'a.so', '-s', 'WASM=%d' % wasm], stderr=PIPE, check=False)
+      self.assertContained('SIDE_MODULE must only be used when compiling to an executable shared library, and not when emitting an object file', process.stderr)
+      self.assertNotEqual(process.returncode, 0)
 
   @no_wasm_backend()
   def test_simplify_ifs(self):
@@ -8093,24 +8094,22 @@ def test_export_aliasee(self):
       self.assertContained('success', ret)
 
   def test_sysconf_phys_pages(self):
-    for args, expected in [
-        ([], 1024),
-        (['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB'], 2048),
-        (['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1'], (2 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 - 65536) // 16384),
-        (['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1', '-s', 'WASM=0'], (2 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 - 16777216) // 16384),
-        (['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'BINARYEN=1'], 2048),
-        (['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1', '-s', 'BINARYEN=1'], (2 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 - 65536) // 16384),
-        (['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1', '-s', 'BINARYEN=1', '-s', 'WASM_MEM_MAX=128MB'], 2048 * 4)
-      ]:
-      if self.is_wasm_backend():
-        if 'WASM=0' in args:
-          continue
+    def run(args, expected):
+      if self.is_wasm_backend() and 'WASM=0' in args:
+        return
       cmd = [PYTHON, EMCC, path_from_root('tests', 'unistd', 'sysconf_phys_pages.c')] + args
       print(str(cmd))
       run_process(cmd)
       result = run_js('a.out.js').strip()
-      print(result)
-      assert result == str(expected) + ', errno: 0', expected
+      self.assertEqual(result,  str(expected) + ', errno: 0')
+
+    run([], 1024)
+    run(['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB'], 2048)
+    run(['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1'], (2 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 - 65536) // 16384)
+    run(['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1', '-s', 'WASM=0'], (2 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 - 16777216) // 16384)
+    run(['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'BINARYEN=1'], 2048)
+    run(['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1', '-s', 'BINARYEN=1'], (2 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 - 65536) // 16384)
+    run(['-s', 'TOTAL_MEMORY=32MB', '-s', 'ALLOW_MEMORY_GROWTH=1', '-s', 'BINARYEN=1', '-s', 'WASM_MEM_MAX=128MB'], 2048 * 4)
 
   def test_wasm_targets(self):
     for opts, potentially_expect_minified_exports_and_imports in (