diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/certs.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/certs.go
index 56c269fb92e..b8a90749c14 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/certs.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/certs.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func NewCmdSelfSign() *cobra.Command {
 		},
 	}
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&cfg.Networking.DNSDomain, "dns-domain", cfg.Networking.DNSDomain, "The DNS Domain for the Kubernetes cluster.")
-	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&cfg.CertificatesDir, "cert-dir", cfg.CertificatesDir, "The path where to save and store the certificates")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&cfg.CertificatesDir, "cert-dir", cfg.CertificatesDir, "The path where to save and store the certificates.")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&cfg.Networking.ServiceSubnet, "service-cidr", cfg.Networking.ServiceSubnet, "The subnet for the Services in the cluster.")
 	cmd.Flags().StringSliceVar(&cfg.APIServerCertSANs, "cert-altnames", []string{}, "Optional extra altnames to use for the API Server serving cert. Can be both IP addresses and dns names.")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&cfg.API.AdvertiseAddress, "apiserver-advertise-address", cfg.API.AdvertiseAddress, "The IP address the API Server will advertise it's listening on. 0.0.0.0 means the default network interface's address.")
@@ -85,8 +85,7 @@ func RunSelfSign(config *kubeadmapi.MasterConfiguration) error {
 		config.API.AdvertiseAddress = ip.String()
 	}
 
-	err = certphase.CreatePKIAssets(config)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err = certphase.CreatePKIAssets(config); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	return nil