diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/get/sorter.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/get/sorter.go
index d24fbe11e11..4a4e223cc81 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/get/sorter.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/get/sorter.go
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ func (r *RuntimeSort) Less(i, j int) bool {
 
 	less, err := isLess(iField, jField)
 	if err != nil {
-		klog.Fatalf("Field %s in %T is an unsortable type: %s, err: %v", r.field, iObj, iField.Kind().String(), err)
+		klog.Exitf("Field %s in %T is an unsortable type: %s, err: %v", r.field, iObj, iField.Kind().String(), err)
 	}
 	return less
 }
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ func (t *TableSorter) Less(i, j int) bool {
 
 	less, err := isLess(iField, jField)
 	if err != nil {
-		klog.Fatalf("Field %s in %T is an unsortable type: %s, err: %v", t.field, t.parsedRows, iField.Kind().String(), err)
+		klog.Exitf("Field %s in %T is an unsortable type: %s, err: %v", t.field, t.parsedRows, iField.Kind().String(), err)
 	}
 	return less
 }