diff --git a/tool/tctl/common/top/command.go b/tool/tctl/common/top/command.go
index 14aeaf20597ea..84b623d45e059 100644
--- a/tool/tctl/common/top/command.go
+++ b/tool/tctl/common/top/command.go
@@ -94,11 +94,18 @@ func (c *Command) newMetricsClient(ctx context.Context) (string, MetricsClient,
 }
 
 // TryRun attempts to run subcommands.
-func (c *Command) TryRun(ctx context.Context, cmd string, _ commonclient.InitFunc) (match bool, err error) {
+func (c *Command) TryRun(ctx context.Context, cmd string, clientFunc commonclient.InitFunc) (match bool, err error) {
 	if cmd != c.top.FullCommand() {
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
+	// Call clientFunc to init `c.config`
+	_, closeFn, err := clientFunc(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return true, trace.Wrap(err)
+	}
+	closeFn(ctx)
+
 	addr, metricsClient, err := c.newMetricsClient(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return true, trace.Wrap(err)