diff --git a/cmd/promtool/main.go b/cmd/promtool/main.go
index 5c85de54f..698594820 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/main.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/main.go
@@ -57,9 +57,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	successExitCode   = 0
-	failureExitCode   = 1
-	configErrExitCode = 2
+	successExitCode = 0
+	failureExitCode = 1
 	// Exit code 3 is used for "one or more lint issues detected".
 	lintErrExitCode = 3
 )
diff --git a/cmd/promtool/sd.go b/cmd/promtool/sd.go
index 90ed4a56c..ce2bb3de5 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/sd.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/sd.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func CheckSD(sdConfigFiles, sdJobName string, sdTimeout time.Duration) int {
 	cfg, err := config.LoadFile(sdConfigFiles, false, false, logger)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Cannot load config", err)
-		return configErrExitCode
+		return failureExitCode
 	}
 
 	var scrapeConfig *config.ScrapeConfig