diff --git a/src/bin/netconf/netconf.cc b/src/bin/netconf/netconf.cc
index 780db0ed36..ddb3a6a961 100644
--- a/src/bin/netconf/netconf.cc
+++ b/src/bin/netconf/netconf.cc
@@ -272,19 +272,17 @@ void NetconfAgent::getModules() {
         S_Context context(running_sess_->get_context());
         modules = context->get_module_iter();
     } catch (const sysrepo_exception& ex) {
-        cerr << "ERROR: Can't retrieve available modules: " << ex.what() << endl;
-        exit(1);
+        isc_throw(Unexpected, "can't retrieve available modules: " << ex.what());
     }
 
     for (S_Module const& module : modules) {
         if (!module->name()) {
-            cerr << "ERROR: module name is mangled" << endl;
-            exit(2);
+            isc_throw(Unexpected, "could not retrieve module name");
         }
         string const name(module->name());
         if (!module->rev() || !module->rev()->date()) {
-            cerr << "ERROR: module revision is mangled" << endl;
-            exit(3);
+            isc_throw(Unexpected,
+                      "could not retrieve module revision for module " << name);
         }
         string const revision(module->rev()->date());
         modules_.emplace(name, revision);
@@ -328,11 +326,8 @@ NetconfAgent::checkModules(CfgServersMapPtr const& servers /* = {} */) const {
     }
 
     if (faulty_model) {
-        cerr << "ERROR: The logged YANG module is missing or its revision is not "
-                "supported. The environment is not suitable for running "
-                "kea-netconf."
-            << endl;
-        exit(4);
+        isc_throw(Unexpected, "YANG module is missing or its revision is not "
+                              "supported. Check logs for details.");
     }
 
     for (auto modrev : YANG_REVISIONS) {
diff --git a/src/bin/netconf/netconf.h b/src/bin/netconf/netconf.h
index b28659472b..d8cfc37611 100644
--- a/src/bin/netconf/netconf.h
+++ b/src/bin/netconf/netconf.h
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ protected:
     ///
     /// Emit a fatal error if an essential one (i.e. required in
     /// a further phase) is missing or does not have the expected revision.
-    /// The caller (init) will exit().
     ///
     /// @param module_name The module name.
     /// @return true if available, false if not.
diff --git a/src/bin/netconf/netconf_cfg_mgr.cc b/src/bin/netconf/netconf_cfg_mgr.cc
index 1f889a73d5..82a19f2fe7 100644
--- a/src/bin/netconf/netconf_cfg_mgr.cc
+++ b/src/bin/netconf/netconf_cfg_mgr.cc
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ NetconfCfgMgr::parse(isc::data::ConstElementPtr config_set,
                      bool check_only) {
     // Do a sanity check first.
     if (!config_set) {
-        isc_throw(DhcpConfigError, "Mandatory config parameter not provided");
+        isc_throw(ConfigError, "Mandatory config parameter not provided");
     }
 
     NetconfConfigPtr ctx = getNetconfConfig();