diff --git a/hack/.staticcheck_failures b/hack/.staticcheck_failures
index 4120867685f..e9bfa6740bd 100644
--- a/hack/.staticcheck_failures
+++ b/hack/.staticcheck_failures
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/config
 vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/edit
 vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/exec
 vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/get
-vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/proxy
 vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/rollingupdate
 vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/scale
 vendor/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/set
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/proxy/proxy.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/proxy/proxy.go
index 904ab782b0f..98ed1405f3d 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/proxy/proxy.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/proxy/proxy.go
@@ -200,6 +200,10 @@ func (o ProxyOptions) Validate() error {
 func (o ProxyOptions) RunProxy() error {
 	server, err := proxy.NewServer(o.staticDir, o.apiPrefix, o.staticPrefix, o.filter, o.clientConfig, o.keepalive)
 
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	// Separate listening from serving so we can report the bound port
 	// when it is chosen by os (eg: port == 0)
 	var l net.Listener
@@ -209,9 +213,8 @@ func (o ProxyOptions) RunProxy() error {
 		l, err = server.ListenUnix(o.unixSocket)
 	}
 	if err != nil {
-		klog.Fatal(err)
+		return err
 	}
 	fmt.Fprintf(o.IOStreams.Out, "Starting to serve on %s\n", l.Addr().String())
-	klog.Fatal(server.ServeOnListener(l))
-	return nil
+	return server.ServeOnListener(l)
 }