diff --git a/app/setup/genesis-hash.go b/app/setup/genesis-hash.go
index a50fb9fa2..dc1b04cb0 100644
--- a/app/setup/genesis-hash.go
+++ b/app/setup/genesis-hash.go
@@ -97,7 +97,15 @@ func GenesisHashCmd() *cobra.Command {
 				appHash = genCfg.StateHash
 			}
 
-			return writeAndReturnGenesisHash(cmd, genesisFile, appHash)
+			if genesisFile != "" {
+				err := writeAndReturnGenesisHash(genesisFile, appHash)
+				if err != nil {
+					return display.PrintErr(cmd, err)
+				}
+			}
+			return display.PrintCmd(cmd, &genesisHashRes{
+				Hash: base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(appHash),
+			})
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -141,29 +149,20 @@ func appHashFromSnapshotFile(filePath string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return hash.Sum(nil), nil
 }
 
-func writeAndReturnGenesisHash(cmd *cobra.Command, genesisFile string, appHash []byte) error {
-	if genesisFile != "" {
-		genesisFile, err := node.ExpandPath(genesisFile)
-		if err != nil {
-			return display.PrintErr(cmd, err)
-		}
-
-		cfg, err := config.LoadGenesisConfig(genesisFile)
-		if err != nil {
-			return display.PrintErr(cmd, err)
-		}
-
-		cfg.StateHash = appHash
+func writeAndReturnGenesisHash(genesisFile string, appHash []byte) error {
+	genesisFile, err := node.ExpandPath(genesisFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
-		err = cfg.SaveAs(genesisFile)
-		if err != nil {
-			return display.PrintErr(cmd, err)
-		}
+	cfg, err := config.LoadGenesisConfig(genesisFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	return display.PrintCmd(cmd, &genesisHashRes{
-		Hash: base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(appHash),
-	})
+	cfg.StateHash = appHash
+
+	return cfg.SaveAs(genesisFile)
 }
 
 type genesisHashRes struct {
diff --git a/app/shared/display/format.go b/app/shared/display/format.go
index c38703b5c..6c094d99e 100644
--- a/app/shared/display/format.go
+++ b/app/shared/display/format.go
@@ -183,7 +183,11 @@ func PrintCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, msg MsgFormatter) error {
 	return prettyPrint(wrappedMsg, OutputFormat(format), cmd.OutOrStdout(), cmd.OutOrStderr())
 }
 
-// PrintErr prints the error according to the commands output format flag.
+// PrintErr prints the error according to the commands output format flag. The
+// returned error is nil if the message it was printed successfully. Thus, this
+// function must ONLY be called from within a cobra.Command's RunE function or
+// or returned directly by the RunE function, NOT used to direct application
+// logic since the returned error no longer pertains to the initial error.
 func PrintErr(cmd *cobra.Command, err error) error {
 	outputFormat, err2 := getOutputFormat(cmd)
 	if err2 != nil {