diff --git a/cmd/gossamer/config.go b/cmd/gossamer/config.go
index 8827851f3f..eaaa8dc0bd 100644
--- a/cmd/gossamer/config.go
+++ b/cmd/gossamer/config.go
@@ -43,22 +43,20 @@ var (
 // loadConfigFile loads a default config file if --chain is specified, a specific
 // config if --config is specified, or the default gossamer config otherwise.
 func loadConfigFile(ctx *cli.Context, cfg *ctoml.Config) (err error) {
-	// check --config flag and load toml configuration from config.toml
-	if cfgPath := ctx.GlobalString(ConfigFlag.Name); cfgPath != "" {
-		logger.Info("loading toml configuration from " + cfgPath + "...")
-		if cfg == nil {
-			cfg = &ctoml.Config{} // if configuration not set, create empty configuration
-		} else {
-			logger.Warn(
-				"overwriting default configuration with id " + cfg.Global.ID +
-					" with toml configuration values from " + cfgPath)
-		}
-		err = loadConfig(cfg, cfgPath) // load toml values into configuration
-	} else {
-		err = loadConfig(cfg, defaultGssmrConfigPath)
+	cfgPath := ctx.GlobalString(ConfigFlag.Name)
+	if cfgPath == "" {
+		return loadConfig(cfg, defaultGssmrConfigPath)
 	}
 
-	return err
+	logger.Info("loading toml configuration from " + cfgPath + "...")
+	if cfg == nil {
+		cfg = new(ctoml.Config)
+	} else {
+		logger.Warn(
+			"overwriting default configuration with id " + cfg.Global.ID +
+				" with toml configuration values from " + cfgPath)
+	}
+	return loadConfig(cfg, cfgPath)
 }
 
 func setupConfigFromChain(ctx *cli.Context) (*ctoml.Config, *dot.Config, error) {
@@ -215,15 +213,14 @@ func createImportStateConfig(ctx *cli.Context) (*dot.Config, error) {
 }
 
 func createBuildSpecConfig(ctx *cli.Context) (*dot.Config, error) {
-	var tomlCfg *ctoml.Config
-	cfg := &dot.Config{}
+	tomlCfg := new(ctoml.Config)
 	err := loadConfigFile(ctx, tomlCfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Errorf("failed to load toml configuration: %s", err)
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// set global configuration values
+	cfg := new(dot.Config)
 	if err := setDotGlobalConfig(ctx, tomlCfg, &cfg.Global); err != nil {
 		logger.Errorf("failed to set global node configuration: %s", err)
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/cmd/gossamer/main.go b/cmd/gossamer/main.go
index 087666c72d..87ece94ab7 100644
--- a/cmd/gossamer/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gossamer/main.go
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@ var (
 		Description: "The build-spec command outputs current genesis JSON data.\n" +
 			"\tUsage: gossamer build-spec\n" +
 			"\tTo generate raw genesis file from default: " +
-			"gossamer build-spec --raw > genesis.json" +
+			"gossamer build-spec --raw --output genesis.json" +
 			"\tTo generate raw genesis file from specific genesis file: " +
-			"gossamer build-spec --raw --genesis genesis-spec.json > genesis.json",
+			"gossamer build-spec --raw --genesis genesis-spec.json --output genesis.json",
 	}
 
 	// importRuntime generates a genesis file given a .wasm runtime binary.
@@ -397,11 +397,12 @@ func buildSpecAction(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	if outputPath := ctx.String(OutputSpecFlag.Name); outputPath != "" {
-		if err = dot.WriteGenesisSpecFile(res, outputPath); err != nil {
-			return err
+		err = dot.WriteGenesisSpecFile(res, outputPath)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot write genesis spec file: %w", err)
 		}
 	} else {
-		fmt.Printf("%s", res)
+		fmt.Printf("%s\n", res)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/cmd/gossamer/toml_config.go b/cmd/gossamer/toml_config.go
index 246966e5f9..e683a80640 100644
--- a/cmd/gossamer/toml_config.go
+++ b/cmd/gossamer/toml_config.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func loadConfig(cfg *ctoml.Config, fp string) error {
 		},
 	}
 
-	if err = tomlSettings.NewDecoder(file).Decode(&cfg); err != nil {
+	if err = tomlSettings.NewDecoder(file).Decode(cfg); err != nil {
 		logger.Errorf("failed to decode configuration: %s", err)
 		return err
 	}