diff --git a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server.go b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server.go
index 115e9680964..f36a0bdfec7 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server.go
@@ -163,15 +163,13 @@ func AddFlags(options *Options, fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.AddFlag(fs)
 }
 
-func NewOptions() (*Options, error) {
-	o := &Options{
+func NewOptions() *Options {
+	return &Options{
 		config:      new(proxyconfig.KubeProxyConfiguration),
 		healthzPort: ports.ProxyHealthzPort,
 		scheme:      scheme.Scheme,
 		codecs:      scheme.Codecs,
 	}
-
-	return o, nil
 }
 
 // Complete completes all the required options.
@@ -316,10 +314,7 @@ func (o *Options) ApplyDefaults(in *proxyconfig.KubeProxyConfiguration) (*proxyc
 
 // NewProxyCommand creates a *cobra.Command object with default parameters
 func NewProxyCommand() *cobra.Command {
-	opts, err := NewOptions()
-	if err != nil {
-		glog.Fatalf("Unable to initialize command options: %v", err)
-	}
+	opts := NewOptions()
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use: "kube-proxy",
@@ -338,6 +333,7 @@ with the apiserver API to configure the proxy.`,
 		},
 	}
 
+	var err error
 	opts.config, err = opts.ApplyDefaults(opts.config)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatalf("unable to create flag defaults: %v", err)
diff --git a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_test.go b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_test.go
index b23356e7038..5204de51ce5 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-proxy/app/server_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 package app
 
 import (
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
@@ -28,11 +27,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	k8sRuntime "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/proxy/apis/proxyconfig"
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/proxy/apis/proxyconfig/v1alpha1"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/configz"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/iptables"
 	utilpointer "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/pointer"
@@ -138,39 +135,6 @@ func Test_getProxyMode(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestNewOptionsFailures tests failure modes for NewOptions()
-func TestNewOptionsFailures(t *testing.T) {
-	// Create a fake scheme builder that generates an error
-	errString := fmt.Sprintf("Simulated error")
-	genError := func(scheme *k8sRuntime.Scheme) error {
-		return errors.New(errString)
-	}
-	fakeSchemeBuilder := k8sRuntime.NewSchemeBuilder(genError)
-
-	simulatedErrorTest := func(target string) {
-		var addToScheme *func(s *k8sRuntime.Scheme) error
-		if target == proxyconfig.GroupName {
-			addToScheme = &proxyconfig.AddToScheme
-		} else {
-			addToScheme = &v1alpha1.AddToScheme
-		}
-		restoreValue := *addToScheme
-		restore := func() {
-			*addToScheme = restoreValue
-		}
-		defer restore()
-		*addToScheme = fakeSchemeBuilder.AddToScheme
-		_, err := NewOptions()
-		assert.Error(t, err, fmt.Sprintf("Simulated error in component %s", target))
-	}
-
-	// Simulate errors in calls to AddToScheme()
-	faultTargets := []string{proxyconfig.GroupName, "v1alpha1"}
-	for _, target := range faultTargets {
-		simulatedErrorTest(target)
-	}
-}
-
 // This test verifies that NewProxyServer does not crash when CleanupAndExit is true.
 func TestProxyServerWithCleanupAndExit(t *testing.T) {
 	// Each bind address below is a separate test case
@@ -179,10 +143,7 @@ func TestProxyServerWithCleanupAndExit(t *testing.T) {
 		"::",
 	}
 	for _, addr := range bindAddresses {
-		options, err := NewOptions()
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("Unexpected error with address %s: %v", addr, err)
-		}
+		options := NewOptions()
 
 		options.config = &proxyconfig.KubeProxyConfiguration{
 			BindAddress: addr,
@@ -410,8 +371,7 @@ udpTimeoutMilliseconds: 123ms
 			UDPIdleTimeout:     metav1.Duration{Duration: 123 * time.Millisecond},
 		}
 
-		options, err := NewOptions()
-		assert.NoError(t, err, "unexpected error for %s: %v", tc.name, err)
+		options := NewOptions()
 
 		yaml := fmt.Sprintf(
 			yamlTemplate, tc.bindAddress, tc.clusterCIDR,
@@ -449,7 +409,7 @@ func TestLoadConfigFailures(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	version := "apiVersion: kubeproxy.k8s.io/v1alpha1"
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
-		options, _ := NewOptions()
+		options := NewOptions()
 		config := fmt.Sprintf("%s\n%s", version, tc.config)
 		_, err := options.loadConfig([]byte(config))
 		if assert.Error(t, err, tc.name) {