diff --git a/pkg/kn/flags/podspec.go b/pkg/kn/flags/podspec.go
index b3ee4af613..083e3d0fd0 100644
--- a/pkg/kn/flags/podspec.go
+++ b/pkg/kn/flags/podspec.go
@@ -290,10 +290,7 @@ func (p *PodSpecFlags) ResolvePodSpec(podSpec *corev1.PodSpec, cmd *cobra.Comman
 	}
 
 	if cmd.Flags().Changed("service-account") {
-		err = UpdateServiceAccountName(podSpec, p.ServiceAccountName)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+		UpdateServiceAccountName(podSpec, p.ServiceAccountName)
 	}
 
 	if cmd.Flags().Changed("pull-secret") {
@@ -301,7 +298,10 @@ func (p *PodSpecFlags) ResolvePodSpec(podSpec *corev1.PodSpec, cmd *cobra.Comman
 	}
 
 	if cmd.Flags().Changed("user") {
-		UpdateUser(podSpec, p.User)
+		err = UpdateUser(podSpec, p.User)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/pkg/kn/flags/podspec_helper.go b/pkg/kn/flags/podspec_helper.go
index 05895a460e..757b488f95 100644
--- a/pkg/kn/flags/podspec_helper.go
+++ b/pkg/kn/flags/podspec_helper.go
@@ -35,10 +35,6 @@ const (
 	PortFormatErr = "the port specification '%s' is not valid. Please provide in the format 'NAME:PORT', where 'NAME' is optional. Examples: '--port h2c:8080' , '--port 8080'."
 )
 
-var (
-	UserImageAnnotationKey = "client.knative.dev/user-image"
-)
-
 func (vt VolumeSourceType) String() string {
 	names := [...]string{"config-map", "secret"}
 	if vt < ConfigMapVolumeSourceType || vt > SecretVolumeSourceType {
@@ -254,10 +250,9 @@ func UpdateResourcesDeprecated(spec *corev1.PodSpec, requestsResourceList corev1
 }
 
 // UpdateServiceAccountName updates the service account name used for the corresponding knative service
-func UpdateServiceAccountName(spec *corev1.PodSpec, serviceAccountName string) error {
+func UpdateServiceAccountName(spec *corev1.PodSpec, serviceAccountName string) {
 	serviceAccountName = strings.TrimSpace(serviceAccountName)
 	spec.ServiceAccountName = serviceAccountName
-	return nil
 }
 
 // UpdateImagePullSecrets updates the image pull secrets used for the corresponding knative service