diff --git a/cmd/waku/main.go b/cmd/waku/main.go
index 9c93b3f0..eeedb3a8 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/main.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/main.go
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/cmd/waku/keygen"
 	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/cmd/waku/rlngenerate"
 	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/node"
+	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/utils"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
 var options NodeOptions
@@ -113,7 +115,16 @@ func main() {
 		Before:  altsrc.InitInputSourceWithContext(cliFlags, altsrc.NewTomlSourceFromFlagFunc("config-file")),
 		Flags:   cliFlags,
 		Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
-			Execute(options)
+			err := Execute(options)
+			if err != nil {
+				utils.Logger().Error("failure while executing wakunode", zap.Error(err))
+				switch e := err.(type) {
+				case cli.ExitCoder:
+					return e
+				case error:
+					return cli.Exit(err.Error(), 1)
+				}
+			}
 			return nil
 		},
 		Commands: []*cli.Command{
diff --git a/cmd/waku/node.go b/cmd/waku/node.go
index 7edef337..fab591f7 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/node.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/node.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"crypto/ecdsa"
 	"database/sql"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"os"
@@ -17,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	rcmgr "github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/p2p/host/resource-manager"
 	"github.com/pbnjay/memory"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 
 	dbutils "github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/persistence/utils"
 	wakupeerstore "github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/peerstore"
@@ -56,12 +56,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/utils"
 )
 
-func failOnErr(err error, msg string) {
-	if err != nil {
-		utils.Logger().Fatal(msg, zap.Error(err))
-	}
-}
-
 func requiresDB(options NodeOptions) bool {
 	return options.Store.Enable || options.Rendezvous.Enable
 }
@@ -80,21 +74,37 @@ func scalePerc(value float64) float64 {
 
 const dialTimeout = 7 * time.Second
 
+func nonRecoverErrorMsg(format string, a ...any) error {
+	err := fmt.Errorf(format, a...)
+	return nonRecoverError(err)
+}
+
+func nonRecoverError(err error) error {
+	return cli.Exit(err.Error(), 166)
+}
+
 // Execute starts a go-waku node with settings determined by the Options parameter
-func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
+func Execute(options NodeOptions) error {
 	// Set encoding for logs (console, json, ...)
 	// Note that libp2p reads the encoding from GOLOG_LOG_FMT env var.
 	utils.InitLogger(options.LogEncoding, options.LogOutput)
 
 	hostAddr, err := net.ResolveTCPAddr("tcp", fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", options.Address, options.Port))
-	failOnErr(err, "invalid host address")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nonRecoverErrorMsg("invalid host address: %w", err)
+	}
 
 	prvKey, err := getPrivKey(options)
-	failOnErr(err, "nodekey error")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
 	p2pPrvKey := utils.EcdsaPrivKeyToSecp256k1PrivKey(prvKey)
 	id, err := peer.IDFromPublicKey(p2pPrvKey.GetPublic())
-	failOnErr(err, "deriving peer ID from private key")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	logger := utils.Logger().With(logging.HostID("node", id))
 
 	var db *sql.DB
@@ -104,7 +114,9 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 			Vacuum: options.Store.Vacuum,
 		}
 		db, migrationFn, err = dbutils.ExtractDBAndMigration(options.Store.DatabaseURL, dbSettings, logger)
-		failOnErr(err, "Could not connect to DB")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nonRecoverErrorMsg("could not connect to DB: %w", err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	ctx := context.Background()
@@ -117,7 +129,7 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 
 	lvl, err := zapcore.ParseLevel(options.LogLevel)
 	if err != nil {
-		failOnErr(err, "log level error")
+		return err
 	}
 
 	nodeOpts := []node.WakuNodeOption{
@@ -137,8 +149,9 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 	if options.ExtIP != "" {
 		ip := net.ParseIP(options.ExtIP)
 		if ip == nil {
-			failOnErr(errors.New("invalid IP address"), "could not set external IP address")
+			return nonRecoverErrorMsg("could not set external IP address: invalid IP")
 		}
+
 		nodeOpts = append(nodeOpts, node.WithExternalIP(ip))
 	}
 
@@ -155,7 +168,9 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 	limits := rcmgr.DefaultLimits // Default memory limit: 1/8th of total memory, minimum 128MB, maximum 1GB
 	scaledLimits := limits.Scale(int64(float64(memory.TotalMemory())*memPerc/100), int(float64(getNumFDs())*fdPerc/100))
 	resourceManager, err := rcmgr.NewResourceManager(rcmgr.NewFixedLimiter(scaledLimits))
-	failOnErr(err, "setting resource limits")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not set resource limits: %w", err)
+	}
 
 	libp2pOpts = append(libp2pOpts, libp2p.ResourceManager(resourceManager))
 	libp2p.SetDefaultServiceLimits(&limits)
@@ -179,7 +194,7 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 			logger.Warn("node forced to be publicly reachable!")
 			libp2pOpts = append(libp2pOpts, libp2p.ForceReachabilityPublic())
 		} else {
-			failOnErr(errors.New("invalid reachability value"), "Reachability")
+			return nonRecoverErrorMsg("invalid reachability value")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -197,18 +212,23 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 
 	if options.ShowAddresses {
 		printListeningAddresses(ctx, nodeOpts, options)
-		return
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	if options.Store.Enable && options.PersistPeers {
 		// Create persistent peerstore
 		queries, err := dbutils.NewQueries("peerstore", db)
-		failOnErr(err, "Peerstore")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nonRecoverErrorMsg("could not setup persistent peerstore database: %w", err)
+
+		}
 
 		datastore := dssql.NewDatastore(db, queries)
 		opts := pstoreds.DefaultOpts()
 		peerStore, err := pstoreds.NewPeerstore(ctx, datastore, opts)
-		failOnErr(err, "Peerstore")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nonRecoverErrorMsg("could not create persistent peerstore: %w", err)
+		}
 
 		nodeOpts = append(nodeOpts, node.WithPeerStore(peerStore))
 	}
@@ -244,7 +264,10 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 		}
 
 		dbStore, err = persistence.NewDBStore(prometheus.DefaultRegisterer, logger, dbOptions...)
-		failOnErr(err, "DBStore")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nonRecoverErrorMsg("error setting up db store: %w", err)
+		}
+
 		nodeOpts = append(nodeOpts, node.WithMessageProvider(dbStore))
 	}
 
@@ -275,7 +298,7 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 				}
 			}
 		} else {
-			logger.Fatal("DNS discovery URL is required")
+			return nonRecoverErrorMsg("DNS discovery URL is required")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -307,26 +330,36 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 		nodeOpts = append(nodeOpts, node.WithRendezvous(rdb))
 	}
 
-	checkForRLN(logger, options, &nodeOpts)
-
-	wakuNode, err := node.New(nodeOpts...)
-
 	utils.Logger().Info("Version details ", zap.String("version", node.Version), zap.String("commit", node.GitCommit))
 
-	failOnErr(err, "Wakunode")
+	if err = checkForRLN(logger, options, &nodeOpts); err != nil {
+		return nonRecoverError(err)
+	}
+
+	wakuNode, err := node.New(nodeOpts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not instantiate waku: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	//Process pubSub and contentTopics specified and arrive at all corresponding pubSubTopics
-	pubSubTopicMap := processTopics(options)
+	pubSubTopicMap, err := processTopics(options)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nonRecoverError(err)
+	}
+
 	pubSubTopicMapKeys := make([]string, 0, len(pubSubTopicMap))
 	for k := range pubSubTopicMap {
 		pubSubTopicMapKeys = append(pubSubTopicMapKeys, k)
 	}
 
 	if options.Filter.UseV1 {
-		addStaticPeers(wakuNode, options.Filter.NodesV1, pubSubTopicMapKeys, legacy_filter.FilterID_v20beta1)
+		if err := addStaticPeers(wakuNode, options.Filter.NodesV1, pubSubTopicMapKeys, legacy_filter.FilterID_v20beta1); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	if err = wakuNode.Start(ctx); err != nil {
-		logger.Fatal("starting waku node", zap.Error(err))
+		return nonRecoverError(err)
 	}
 
 	for _, d := range discoveredNodes {
@@ -334,10 +367,17 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 	}
 
 	//For now assuming that static peers added support/listen on all topics specified via commandLine.
-	addStaticPeers(wakuNode, options.Store.Nodes, pubSubTopicMapKeys, store.StoreID_v20beta4)
-	addStaticPeers(wakuNode, options.LightPush.Nodes, pubSubTopicMapKeys, lightpush.LightPushID_v20beta1)
-	addStaticPeers(wakuNode, options.Rendezvous.Nodes, pubSubTopicMapKeys, rendezvous.RendezvousID)
-	addStaticPeers(wakuNode, options.Filter.Nodes, pubSubTopicMapKeys, filter.FilterSubscribeID_v20beta1)
+	staticPeers := map[protocol.ID][]multiaddr.Multiaddr{
+		store.StoreID_v20beta4:            options.Store.Nodes,
+		lightpush.LightPushID_v20beta1:    options.LightPush.Nodes,
+		rendezvous.RendezvousID:           options.Rendezvous.Nodes,
+		filter.FilterSubscribeID_v20beta1: options.Filter.Nodes,
+	}
+	for protocolID, peers := range staticPeers {
+		if err = addStaticPeers(wakuNode, peers, pubSubTopicMapKeys, protocolID); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
 
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 
@@ -345,7 +385,10 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 		for nodeTopic := range pubSubTopicMap {
 			nodeTopic := nodeTopic
 			sub, err := wakuNode.Relay().SubscribeToTopic(ctx, nodeTopic)
-			failOnErr(err, "Error subscring to topic")
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
 			sub.Unsubscribe()
 
 			if len(options.Rendezvous.Nodes) != 0 {
@@ -401,8 +444,9 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 		}
 
 		for _, protectedTopic := range options.Relay.ProtectedTopics {
-			err := wakuNode.Relay().AddSignedTopicValidator(protectedTopic.Topic, protectedTopic.PublicKey)
-			failOnErr(err, "Error adding signed topic validator")
+			if err := wakuNode.Relay().AddSignedTopicValidator(protectedTopic.Topic, protectedTopic.PublicKey); err != nil {
+				return nonRecoverErrorMsg("could not add signed topic validator: %w", err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -479,27 +523,33 @@ func Execute(options NodeOptions) {
 	wakuNode.Stop()
 
 	if options.RPCServer.Enable {
-		err := rpcServer.Stop(ctx)
-		failOnErr(err, "RPCClose")
+		if err := rpcServer.Stop(ctx); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	if options.RESTServer.Enable {
-		err := restServer.Stop(ctx)
-		failOnErr(err, "RESTClose")
+		if err := restServer.Stop(ctx); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	if options.Metrics.Enable {
-		err = metricsServer.Stop(ctx)
-		failOnErr(err, "MetricsClose")
+		if err = metricsServer.Stop(ctx); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
-	if options.Store.Enable {
-		err = db.Close()
-		failOnErr(err, "DBClose")
+	if db != nil {
+		if err = db.Close(); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
-func processTopics(options NodeOptions) map[string]struct{} {
+func processTopics(options NodeOptions) (map[string]struct{}, error) {
 	//Using a map to avoid duplicate pub-sub topics that can result from autosharding
 	// or same-topic being passed twice.
 	pubSubTopicMap := make(map[string]struct{})
@@ -516,7 +566,7 @@ func processTopics(options NodeOptions) map[string]struct{} {
 	for _, cTopic := range options.Relay.ContentTopics.Value() {
 		contentTopic, err := wprotocol.StringToContentTopic(cTopic)
 		if err != nil {
-			failOnErr(err, "failed to parse content topic")
+			return nil, err
 		}
 		pTopic := wprotocol.GetShardFromContentTopic(contentTopic, wprotocol.GenerationZeroShardsCount)
 		pubSubTopicMap[pTopic.String()] = struct{}{}
@@ -526,14 +576,17 @@ func processTopics(options NodeOptions) map[string]struct{} {
 		pubSubTopicMap[relay.DefaultWakuTopic] = struct{}{}
 	}
 
-	return pubSubTopicMap
+	return pubSubTopicMap, nil
 }
 
-func addStaticPeers(wakuNode *node.WakuNode, addresses []multiaddr.Multiaddr, pubSubTopics []string, protocols ...protocol.ID) {
+func addStaticPeers(wakuNode *node.WakuNode, addresses []multiaddr.Multiaddr, pubSubTopics []string, protocols ...protocol.ID) error {
 	for _, addr := range addresses {
 		_, err := wakuNode.AddPeer(addr, wakupeerstore.Static, pubSubTopics, protocols...)
-		failOnErr(err, "error adding peer")
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not add static peer: %w", err)
+		}
 	}
+	return nil
 }
 
 func loadPrivateKeyFromFile(path string, passwd string) (*ecdsa.PrivateKey, error) {
diff --git a/cmd/waku/node_no_rln.go b/cmd/waku/node_no_rln.go
index de285e5a..9756cee3 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/node_no_rln.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/node_no_rln.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
-func checkForRLN(logger *zap.Logger, options NodeOptions, nodeOpts *[]node.WakuNodeOption) {
+func checkForRLN(logger *zap.Logger, options NodeOptions, nodeOpts *[]node.WakuNodeOption) error {
 	// Do nothing
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/waku/node_rln.go b/cmd/waku/node_rln.go
index 703660f2..d6dc5b73 100644
--- a/cmd/waku/node_rln.go
+++ b/cmd/waku/node_rln.go
@@ -11,11 +11,12 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 )
 
-func checkForRLN(logger *zap.Logger, options NodeOptions, nodeOpts *[]node.WakuNodeOption) {
+func checkForRLN(logger *zap.Logger, options NodeOptions, nodeOpts *[]node.WakuNodeOption) error {
 	if options.RLNRelay.Enable {
 		if !options.Relay.Enable {
-			failOnErr(errors.New("relay not available"), "Could not enable RLN Relay")
+			return errors.New("waku relay is required to enable RLN relay")
 		}
+
 		if !options.RLNRelay.Dynamic {
 			*nodeOpts = append(*nodeOpts, node.WithStaticRLNRelay((*rln.MembershipIndex)(options.RLNRelay.MembershipIndex), nil))
 		} else {
@@ -32,4 +33,6 @@ func checkForRLN(logger *zap.Logger, options NodeOptions, nodeOpts *[]node.WakuN
 			))
 		}
 	}
+
+	return nil
 }