diff --git a/cmd/neofs-cli/internal/client/sdk.go b/cmd/neofs-cli/internal/client/sdk.go
index 08991d0835..e3acac6556 100644
--- a/cmd/neofs-cli/internal/client/sdk.go
+++ b/cmd/neofs-cli/internal/client/sdk.go
@@ -5,15 +5,26 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
+	"github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-node/cmd/neofs-cli/internal/common"
 	"github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-node/pkg/network"
 	"github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-sdk-go/client"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 )
 
 var errInvalidEndpoint = errors.New("provided RPC endpoint is incorrect")
 
 // GetSDKClientByFlag returns default neofs-sdk-go client using the specified flag for the address.
-func GetSDKClientByFlag(key *ecdsa.PrivateKey, endpointFlag string) (*client.Client, error) {
+// On error, outputs to stderr of cmd and exits with non-zero code.
+func GetSDKClientByFlag(cmd *cobra.Command, key *ecdsa.PrivateKey, endpointFlag string) *client.Client {
+	cli, err := getSDKClientByFlag(key, endpointFlag)
+	if err != nil {
+		common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "can't create API client: %w", err)
+	}
+	return cli
+}
+
+func getSDKClientByFlag(key *ecdsa.PrivateKey, endpointFlag string) (*client.Client, error) {
 	var addr network.Address
 
 	err := addr.FromString(viper.GetString(endpointFlag))
diff --git a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/accounting/balance.go b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/accounting/balance.go
index 8a4b25e143..e4048b7f3f 100644
--- a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/accounting/balance.go
+++ b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/accounting/balance.go
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ var accountingBalanceCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "can't decode owner ID wallet address: %w", oid.DecodeString(balanceOwner))
 		}
 
-		cli, err := internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(pk, commonflags.RPC)
-		common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "create API client: %w", err)
+		cli := internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(cmd, pk, commonflags.RPC)
 
 		var prm internalclient.BalanceOfPrm
 		prm.SetClient(cli)
diff --git a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/control/util.go b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/control/util.go
index 724c10f572..5f22ae8fde 100644
--- a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/control/util.go
+++ b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/control/util.go
@@ -49,7 +49,5 @@ func verifyResponse(cmd *cobra.Command,
 }
 
 func getClient(cmd *cobra.Command, pk *ecdsa.PrivateKey) *client.Client {
-	cli, err := internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(pk, controlRPC)
-	common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "", err)
-	return cli
+	return internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(cmd, pk, controlRPC)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/object.go b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/object.go
index b509e174fb..9f81a41062 100644
--- a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/object.go
+++ b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/object.go
@@ -338,8 +338,7 @@ func prepareSessionPrmWithOwner(
 	ownerID *user.ID,
 	prms ...clientKeySession,
 ) {
-	cli, err := internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(key, commonflags.RPC)
-	common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "create API client: %w", err)
+	cli := internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(cmd, key, commonflags.RPC)
 
 	var sessionToken *session.Token
 	if tokenPath, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString(sessionTokenFlag); len(tokenPath) != 0 {
@@ -352,6 +351,7 @@ func prepareSessionPrmWithOwner(
 			common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "can't unmarshal session token: %w", err)
 		}
 	} else {
+		var err error
 		sessionToken, err = sessionCli.CreateSession(cli, ownerID, sessionTokenLifetime)
 		common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "", err)
 	}
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ func prepareSessionPrmWithOwner(
 		tok.SetIat(sessionToken.Iat())
 		tok.SetNbf(sessionToken.Nbf())
 
-		err = tok.Sign(key)
+		err := tok.Sign(key)
 		common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "session token signing: %w", err)
 
 		prms[i].SetClient(cli)
diff --git a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/root.go b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/root.go
index 36e9421a5c..e0fce317b1 100644
--- a/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/root.go
+++ b/cmd/neofs-cli/modules/root.go
@@ -152,8 +152,7 @@ func prepareAPIClient(cmd *cobra.Command, dst ...clientWithKey) {
 
 // creates NeoFS API client and writes it to target along with the private key.
 func prepareAPIClientWithKey(cmd *cobra.Command, key *ecdsa.PrivateKey, dst ...clientWithKey) {
-	cli, err := internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(key, commonflags.RPC)
-	common.ExitOnErr(cmd, "create API client: %w", err)
+	cli := internalclient.GetSDKClientByFlag(cmd, key, commonflags.RPC)
 
 	for _, d := range dst {
 		d.SetClient(cli)