diff --git a/pkg/ccl/cliccl/debug_backup.go b/pkg/ccl/cliccl/debug_backup.go
index c0ba165da88c..6a044dc0be2d 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/cliccl/debug_backup.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/cliccl/debug_backup.go
@@ -181,9 +181,8 @@ func init() {
 		Use:   "backup [command]",
 		Short: "debug backups",
 		Long:  "Shows information about a SQL backup.",
-		Args:  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			return cmd.Usage()
+			return cli.UsageAndErr(cmd, args)
 		},
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/cli/auth.go b/pkg/cli/auth.go
index 3df11c9a99bd..5acc9edf7846 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/auth.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/auth.go
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ var authCmds = []*cobra.Command{
 var authCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "auth-session",
 	Short: "log in and out of HTTP sessions",
-	RunE:  usageAndErr,
+	RunE:  UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/cert.go b/pkg/cli/cert.go
index 5d7de5e7b4c8..fd20a5ae0cea 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/cert.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/cert.go
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ var certCmd = func() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "cert",
 		Short: "create ca, node, and client certs",
-		RunE:  usageAndErr,
+		RunE:  UsageAndErr,
 	}
 	cmd.AddCommand(certCmds...)
 	return cmd
diff --git a/pkg/cli/cli.go b/pkg/cli/cli.go
index 86f266096c2d..ec3701d76351 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/cli.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/cli.go
@@ -283,10 +283,10 @@ func Run(args []string) error {
 	return cockroachCmd.Execute()
 }
 
-// usageAndErr informs the user about the usage of the command
+// UsageAndErr informs the user about the usage of the command
 // and returns an error. This ensures that the top-level command
 // has a suitable exit status.
-func usageAndErr(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+func UsageAndErr(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if err := cmd.Usage(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/connect.go b/pkg/cli/connect.go
index 94f5dc19d425..66ef9a3a0d4f 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/connect.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/connect.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ var connectCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "Create certificates for securely connecting with clusters\n",
 	Long: `
 Bootstrap security certificates for connecting to new or existing clusters.`,
-	RunE: usageAndErr,
+	RunE: UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/debug.go b/pkg/cli/debug.go
index 5a7858f71266..438cf2c1bc81 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/debug.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/debug.go
@@ -600,14 +600,14 @@ var debugDecodeProtoCmd = &cobra.Command{
 Read from stdin and attempt to decode any hex or base64 encoded proto fields and
 output them as JSON. All other fields will be outputted unchanged. Output fields
 will be separated by tabs.
-	
+
 The default value for --schema is 'cockroach.sql.sqlbase.Descriptor'.
 For example:
 
 $ decode-proto < cat debug/system.decsriptor.txt
 id	descriptor	hex_descriptor
 1	\022!\012\006system\020\001\032\025\012\011\012\005admin\0200\012\010\012\004root\0200	{"database": {"id": 1, "modificationTime": {}, "name": "system", "privileges": {"users": [{"privileges": 48, "user": "admin"}, {"privileges": 48, "user": "root"}]}}}
-...	
+...
 `,
 	Args: cobra.ArbitraryArgs,
 	RunE: runDebugDecodeProto,
@@ -1538,7 +1538,7 @@ var DebugCmd = &cobra.Command{
 These commands are useful for extracting data from the data files of a
 process that has failed and cannot restart.
 `,
-	RunE: usageAndErr,
+	RunE: UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 // mvccValueFormatter is a fmt.Formatter for MVCC values.
diff --git a/pkg/cli/gen.go b/pkg/cli/gen.go
index ccfe51bc6d4e..2eee67f9539d 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/gen.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/gen.go
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ var genCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "gen [command]",
 	Short: "generate auxiliary files",
 	Long:  "Generate manpages, example shell settings, example databases, etc.",
-	RunE:  usageAndErr,
+	RunE:  UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 var genCmds = []*cobra.Command{
diff --git a/pkg/cli/import.go b/pkg/cli/import.go
index acca65daf369..774bcef17698 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/import.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/import.go
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ var importCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "import [command]",
 	Short: "import a db or table from a local PGDUMP or MYSQLDUMP file",
 	Long:  "import a db or table from a local PGDUMP or MYSQLDUMP file",
-	RunE:  usageAndErr,
+	RunE:  UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/mt.go b/pkg/cli/mt.go
index 9311f3e24510..2501dc470b19 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/mt.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/mt.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ Commands related to multi-tenancy.
 
 This functionality is **experimental** and for internal use only.
 `,
-	RunE:   usageAndErr,
+	RunE:   UsageAndErr,
 	Hidden: true,
 }
 
@@ -50,5 +50,5 @@ command.
 
 This functionality is **experimental** and for internal use only.
 `,
-	RunE: usageAndErr,
+	RunE: UsageAndErr,
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cli/node.go b/pkg/cli/node.go
index 9669fd32afa0..684009fd2675 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/node.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/node.go
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ var nodeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "node [command]",
 	Short: "list, inspect, drain or remove nodes\n",
 	Long:  "List, inspect, drain or remove nodes.",
-	RunE:  usageAndErr,
+	RunE:  UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/nodelocal.go b/pkg/cli/nodelocal.go
index 400aa695df8a..a1f93e887631 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/nodelocal.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/nodelocal.go
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ var nodeLocalCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "nodelocal [command]",
 	Short: "upload and delete nodelocal files",
 	Long:  "Upload and delete files on the gateway node's local file system.",
-	RunE:  usageAndErr,
+	RunE:  UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 func init() {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/statement_diag.go b/pkg/cli/statement_diag.go
index 637bf2615621..e87dc6c7977e 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/statement_diag.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/statement_diag.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ var stmtDiagCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Long: `This set of commands can be used to manage and download statement diagnostic
 bundles, and to cancel outstanding diagnostics activation requests. Statement
 diagnostics can be activated from the UI or using EXPLAIN ANALYZE (DEBUG).`,
-	RunE: usageAndErr,
+	RunE: UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 var stmtDiagListCmd = &cobra.Command{
diff --git a/pkg/cli/userfile.go b/pkg/cli/userfile.go
index aced9d2a11e7..2f733290e3c0 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/userfile.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/userfile.go
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ var userFileCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "userfile [command]",
 	Short: "upload, list and delete user scoped files",
 	Long:  "Upload, list and delete files from the user scoped file storage.",
-	RunE:  usageAndErr,
+	RunE:  UsageAndErr,
 }
 
 func init() {