diff --git a/cmd/tetra/common/client.go b/cmd/tetra/common/client.go
index 3472f919ab8..e3e69868a0b 100644
--- a/cmd/tetra/common/client.go
+++ b/cmd/tetra/common/client.go
@@ -11,12 +11,10 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-
 	"github.com/cilium/tetragon/api/v1/tetragon"
 	"github.com/cilium/tetragon/pkg/defaults"
 	"github.com/cilium/tetragon/pkg/logger"
-	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials/insecure"
 )
@@ -25,7 +23,7 @@ type daemonInfo struct {
 	ServerAddr string `json:"server_address"`
 }
 
-func getActiveServAddr(fname string) (string, error) {
+func readActiveServerAddress(fname string) (string, error) {
 	f, err := os.Open(fname)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
@@ -41,43 +39,28 @@ func getActiveServAddr(fname string) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func connect(ctx context.Context) (*grpc.ClientConn, string, error) {
-	connCtx, connCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, viper.GetDuration(KeyTimeout))
+	connCtx, connCancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, Timeout)
 	defer connCancel()
 
-	var conn *grpc.ClientConn
-	var serverAddr string
-	var err error
-
-	// The client cli can run remotely so to support most cases transparently
-	// Check if the server address was set
-	//   - If yes: use it directly, users know better
-	//   - If no: then try the default tetragon-info.json file to find the best
-	//       address if possible (could be unix socket). This also covers the
-	//       case that default address is localhost so we are operating in localhost
-	//       context anyway.
-	//       If that address is set try it, if it fails for any reason then retry
-	//       last time with the server address.
-	if viper.IsSet(KeyServerAddress) == false {
-		// server-address was not set by user, try the tetragon-info.json file
-		serverAddr, err = getActiveServAddr(defaults.InitInfoFile)
-		if err == nil && serverAddr != "" {
-			conn, err = grpc.DialContext(connCtx, serverAddr, grpc.WithTransportCredentials(insecure.NewCredentials()), grpc.WithBlock())
-		}
-		// Handle both errors
+	// resolve ServerAdress: if flag set by user, use it, otherwise try to read
+	// it from tetragon-info.json, if it doesn't exist, just use default value
+	if ServerAddress == "" {
+		var err error
+		ServerAddress, err = readActiveServerAddress(defaults.InitInfoFile)
+		// if address could not be found in tetragon-info.json file, use default
 		if err != nil {
+			ServerAddress = defaultServerAddress
+			logger.GetLogger().WithField("ServerAddress", ServerAddress).Debug("connect to server using default value")
+		} else {
 			logger.GetLogger().WithFields(logrus.Fields{
-				"InitInfoFile":   defaults.InitInfoFile,
-				"server-address": serverAddr,
-			}).WithError(err).Debugf("Failed to connect to server")
+				"InitInfoFile":  defaults.InitInfoFile,
+				"ServerAddress": ServerAddress,
+			}).Debug("connect to server using address in info file")
 		}
 	}
-	if conn == nil {
-		// Try the server-address prameter
-		serverAddr = viper.GetString(KeyServerAddress)
-		conn, err = grpc.DialContext(connCtx, serverAddr, grpc.WithTransportCredentials(insecure.NewCredentials()), grpc.WithBlock())
-	}
 
-	return conn, serverAddr, err
+	conn, err := grpc.DialContext(connCtx, ServerAddress, grpc.WithTransportCredentials(insecure.NewCredentials()), grpc.WithBlock())
+	return conn, ServerAddress, err
 }
 
 func CliRunErr(fn func(ctx context.Context, cli tetragon.FineGuidanceSensorsClient), fnErr func(err error)) {
@@ -93,7 +76,7 @@ func CliRunErr(fn func(ctx context.Context, cli tetragon.FineGuidanceSensorsClie
 	for {
 		conn, serverAddr, err = connect(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
-			if attempts < viper.GetInt(KeyRetries) {
+			if attempts < Retries {
 				// Exponential backoff
 				attempts++
 				logger.GetLogger().WithField("server-address", serverAddr).WithField("attempts", attempts).WithError(err).Error("Connection attempt failed, retrying...")
@@ -144,7 +127,7 @@ func NewConnectedClient() ConnectedClient {
 	for {
 		c.conn, serverAddr, err = connect(c.Ctx)
 		if err != nil {
-			if attempts < viper.GetInt(KeyRetries) {
+			if attempts < Retries {
 				// Exponential backoff
 				attempts++
 				logger.GetLogger().WithField("server-address", serverAddr).WithField("attempts", attempts).WithError(err).Error("Connection attempt failed, retrying...")
diff --git a/cmd/tetra/common/flags.go b/cmd/tetra/common/flags.go
index 3935515e79f..bb7cef4555b 100644
--- a/cmd/tetra/common/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/tetra/common/flags.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 package common
 
+import "time"
+
 const (
 	KeyColor         = "color"          // string
 	KeyDebug         = "debug"          // bool
@@ -12,3 +14,14 @@ const (
 	KeyTimeout       = "timeout"        // duration
 	KeyRetries       = "retries"        // int
 )
+
+const (
+	defaultServerAddress = "localhost:54321"
+)
+
+var (
+	Debug         bool
+	ServerAddress string
+	Timeout       time.Duration
+	Retries       int
+)
diff --git a/cmd/tetra/getevents/getevents.go b/cmd/tetra/getevents/getevents.go
index bcd06e4153a..540505facbb 100644
--- a/cmd/tetra/getevents/getevents.go
+++ b/cmd/tetra/getevents/getevents.go
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cilium/tetragon/pkg/encoder"
 	"github.com/cilium/tetragon/pkg/logger"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
-	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/types/known/fieldmaskpb"
@@ -184,7 +183,7 @@ func New() *cobra.Command {
 			fi, _ := os.Stdin.Stat()
 			if fi.Mode()&os.ModeNamedPipe != 0 {
 				// read events from stdin
-				getEvents(context.Background(), newIOReaderClient(os.Stdin, viper.GetBool("debug")))
+				getEvents(context.Background(), newIOReaderClient(os.Stdin, common.Debug))
 				return
 			}
 			// connect to server
diff --git a/cmd/tetra/main.go b/cmd/tetra/main.go
index 90044933ac7..cfa31a9d7c7 100644
--- a/cmd/tetra/main.go
+++ b/cmd/tetra/main.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cilium/tetragon/pkg/logger"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
-	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ func New() *cobra.Command {
 			cmd.Help()
 		},
 		PersistentPreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-			if viper.GetBool(common.KeyDebug) {
+			if common.Debug {
 				logger.DefaultLogger.SetLevel(logrus.DebugLevel)
 			}
 		},
@@ -42,10 +41,9 @@ func New() *cobra.Command {
 
 	addCommands(rootCmd)
 	flags := rootCmd.PersistentFlags()
-	flags.BoolP(common.KeyDebug, "d", false, "Enable debug messages")
-	flags.String(common.KeyServerAddress, "localhost:54321", "gRPC server address")
-	flags.Duration(common.KeyTimeout, 10*time.Second, "Connection timeout")
-	flags.Int(common.KeyRetries, 0, "Connection retries with exponential backoff")
-	viper.BindPFlags(flags)
+	flags.BoolVarP(&common.Debug, common.KeyDebug, "d", false, "Enable debug messages")
+	flags.StringVar(&common.ServerAddress, common.KeyServerAddress, "", "gRPC server address")
+	flags.DurationVar(&common.Timeout, common.KeyTimeout, 10*time.Second, "Connection timeout")
+	flags.IntVar(&common.Retries, common.KeyRetries, 0, "Connection retries with exponential backoff")
 	return rootCmd
 }