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()