diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_copy.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_copy.go
index 13767d98a..eaa0ef81a 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_copy.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_copy.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/backend"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/debug"
+	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/errors"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/repository"
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/restic"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
@@ -236,5 +237,8 @@ func copyTree(ctx context.Context, srcRepo restic.Repository, dstRepo restic.Rep
 	bar := newProgressMax(!quiet, uint64(len(packList)), "packs copied")
 	_, err = repository.Repack(ctx, srcRepo, dstRepo, packList, copyBlobs, bar)
 	bar.Done()
-	return err
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Fatal(err.Error())
+	}
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_init.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_init.go
index a878f3e16..c01fada16 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_init.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_init.go
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ func runInit(ctx context.Context, opts InitOptions, gopts GlobalOptions, args []
 		PackSize:    gopts.PackSize * 1024 * 1024,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return errors.Fatal(err.Error())
 	}
 
 	err = s.Init(ctx, version, gopts.password, chunkerPolynomial)
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go
index 1138bb55b..26f21b1f3 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ func doPrune(ctx context.Context, opts PruneOptions, gopts GlobalOptions, repo r
 		_, err := repository.Repack(ctx, repo, repo, plan.repackPacks, plan.keepBlobs, bar)
 		bar.Done()
 		if err != nil {
-			return errors.Fatalf("%s", err)
+			return errors.Fatal(err.Error())
 		}
 
 		// Also remove repacked packs
diff --git a/cmd/restic/global.go b/cmd/restic/global.go
index a1fa2befc..bbad925d5 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/global.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/global.go
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ func OpenRepository(ctx context.Context, opts GlobalOptions) (*repository.Reposi
 		PackSize:    opts.PackSize * 1024 * 1024,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.Fatal(err.Error())
 	}
 
 	passwordTriesLeft := 1
diff --git a/internal/backend/rest/rest.go b/internal/backend/rest/rest.go
index 7be5a07c7..642fc8b4a 100644
--- a/internal/backend/rest/rest.go
+++ b/internal/backend/rest/rest.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func Create(ctx context.Context, cfg Config, rt http.RoundTripper) (*Backend, er
 
 	_, err = be.Stat(ctx, restic.Handle{Type: restic.ConfigFile})
 	if err == nil {
-		return nil, errors.Fatal("config file already exists")
+		return nil, errors.New("config file already exists")
 	}
 
 	url := *cfg.URL
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ func Create(ctx context.Context, cfg Config, rt http.RoundTripper) (*Backend, er
 	}
 
 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return nil, errors.Fatalf("server response unexpected: %v (%v)", resp.Status, resp.StatusCode)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("server response unexpected: %v (%v)", resp.Status, resp.StatusCode)
 	}
 
 	_, err = io.Copy(io.Discard, resp.Body)
diff --git a/internal/backend/sftp/config.go b/internal/backend/sftp/config.go
index 76d6d145d..1a7309de3 100644
--- a/internal/backend/sftp/config.go
+++ b/internal/backend/sftp/config.go
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func ParseConfig(s string) (interface{}, error) {
 
 	p := path.Clean(dir)
 	if strings.HasPrefix(p, "~") {
-		return nil, errors.Fatal("sftp path starts with the tilde (~) character, that fails for most sftp servers.\nUse a relative directory, most servers interpret this as relative to the user's home directory.")
+		return nil, errors.New("sftp path starts with the tilde (~) character, that fails for most sftp servers.\nUse a relative directory, most servers interpret this as relative to the user's home directory")
 	}
 
 	cfg := NewConfig()
diff --git a/internal/repository/key.go b/internal/repository/key.go
index b3e13ade4..fd20b8e5f 100644
--- a/internal/repository/key.go
+++ b/internal/repository/key.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ var (
 	ErrNoKeyFound = errors.New("wrong password or no key found")
 
 	// ErrMaxKeysReached is returned when the maximum number of keys was checked and no key could be found.
-	ErrMaxKeysReached = errors.Fatal("maximum number of keys reached")
+	ErrMaxKeysReached = errors.New("maximum number of keys reached")
 )
 
 // Key represents an encrypted master key for a repository.
diff --git a/internal/repository/repack.go b/internal/repository/repack.go
index 6adff69f4..c82e63f28 100644
--- a/internal/repository/repack.go
+++ b/internal/repository/repack.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func Repack(ctx context.Context, repo restic.Repository, dstRepo restic.Reposito
 	debug.Log("repacking %d packs while keeping %d blobs", len(packs), keepBlobs.Len())
 
 	if repo == dstRepo && dstRepo.Connections() < 2 {
-		return nil, errors.Fatal("repack step requires a backend connection limit of at least two")
+		return nil, errors.New("repack step requires a backend connection limit of at least two")
 	}
 
 	wg, wgCtx := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)
diff --git a/internal/repository/repository.go b/internal/repository/repository.go
index 35826d9c9..9d1b40c64 100644
--- a/internal/repository/repository.go
+++ b/internal/repository/repository.go
@@ -110,16 +110,16 @@ func (c *CompressionMode) Type() string {
 // New returns a new repository with backend be.
 func New(be restic.Backend, opts Options) (*Repository, error) {
 	if opts.Compression == CompressionInvalid {
-		return nil, errors.Fatalf("invalid compression mode")
+		return nil, errors.New("invalid compression mode")
 	}
 
 	if opts.PackSize == 0 {
 		opts.PackSize = DefaultPackSize
 	}
 	if opts.PackSize > MaxPackSize {
-		return nil, errors.Fatalf("pack size larger than limit of %v MiB", MaxPackSize/1024/1024)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("pack size larger than limit of %v MiB", MaxPackSize/1024/1024)
 	} else if opts.PackSize < MinPackSize {
-		return nil, errors.Fatalf("pack size smaller than minimum of %v MiB", MinPackSize/1024/1024)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("pack size smaller than minimum of %v MiB", MinPackSize/1024/1024)
 	}
 
 	repo := &Repository{
@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ func (r *Repository) LoadIndex(ctx context.Context) error {
 	})
 
 	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Fatal(err.Error())
+		return err
 	}
 
 	err = r.idx.MergeFinalIndexes()
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ func (r *Repository) LoadIndex(ctx context.Context) error {
 			}
 		})
 		if invalidIndex {
-			return errors.Fatal("index uses feature not supported by repository version 1")
+			return errors.New("index uses feature not supported by repository version 1")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -678,7 +678,7 @@ func (r *Repository) CreateIndexFromPacks(ctx context.Context, packsize map[rest
 
 	err = wg.Wait()
 	if err != nil {
-		return invalid, errors.Fatal(err.Error())
+		return invalid, err
 	}
 
 	return invalid, nil
@@ -723,9 +723,9 @@ func (r *Repository) SearchKey(ctx context.Context, password string, maxKeys int
 	r.keyID = key.ID()
 	cfg, err := restic.LoadConfig(ctx, r)
 	if err == crypto.ErrUnauthenticated {
-		return errors.Fatalf("config or key %v is damaged: %v", key.ID(), err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("config or key %v is damaged: %w", key.ID(), err)
 	} else if err != nil {
-		return errors.Fatalf("config cannot be loaded: %v", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("config cannot be loaded: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	r.setConfig(cfg)
diff --git a/internal/restic/snapshot_group.go b/internal/restic/snapshot_group.go
index 9efae2ff6..964a230b3 100644
--- a/internal/restic/snapshot_group.go
+++ b/internal/restic/snapshot_group.go
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@ package restic
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
-
-	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/errors"
 )
 
 type SnapshotGroupByOptions struct {
@@ -26,7 +25,7 @@ func splitSnapshotGroupBy(s string) (SnapshotGroupByOptions, error) {
 			l.Tag = true
 		case "":
 		default:
-			return SnapshotGroupByOptions{}, errors.Fatal("unknown grouping option: '" + option + "'")
+			return SnapshotGroupByOptions{}, fmt.Errorf("unknown grouping option: %q", option)
 		}
 	}
 	return l, nil