diff --git a/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c b/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
index 40cae7b121..b773f14f7e 100644
--- a/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
+++ b/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
@@ -1137,35 +1137,38 @@ accumStats(StatsData *stats, bool skipped, double lat, double lag)
 	}
 }
 
-/* call PQexec() and exit() on failure */
+/* call PQexec() and possibly exit() on failure */
 static void
-executeStatement(PGconn *con, const char *sql)
+executeStatementExpect(PGconn *con, const char *sql,
+					   const ExecStatusType expected, bool errorOK)
 {
 	PGresult   *res;
 
 	res = PQexec(con, sql);
-	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_COMMAND_OK)
+	if (PQresultStatus(res) != expected)
 	{
 		pg_log_fatal("query failed: %s", PQerrorMessage(con));
 		pg_log_info("query was: %s", sql);
-		exit(1);
+		if (errorOK)
+			pg_log_info("(ignoring this error and continuing anyway)");
+		else
+			exit(1);
 	}
 	PQclear(res);
 }
 
+/* execute sql command, which must work, or die if not */
+static void
+executeStatement(PGconn *con, const char *sql)
+{
+	executeStatementExpect(con, sql, PGRES_COMMAND_OK, false);
+}
+
 /* call PQexec() and complain, but without exiting, on failure */
 static void
 tryExecuteStatement(PGconn *con, const char *sql)
 {
-	PGresult   *res;
-
-	res = PQexec(con, sql);
-	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_COMMAND_OK)
-	{
-		pg_log_error("%s", PQerrorMessage(con));
-		pg_log_info("(ignoring this error and continuing anyway)");
-	}
-	PQclear(res);
+	executeStatementExpect(con, sql, PGRES_COMMAND_OK, true);
 }
 
 /* set up a connection to the backend */
@@ -3810,7 +3813,6 @@ initTruncateTables(PGconn *con)
 static void
 initGenerateDataClientSide(PGconn *con)
 {
-	PGresult	   *res;
 	StringInfoData	sql;
 
 	/* used to track elapsed time and estimate of the remaining time */
@@ -3863,13 +3865,7 @@ initGenerateDataClientSide(PGconn *con)
 	/*
 	 * accounts is big enough to be worth using COPY and tracking runtime
 	 */
-	res = PQexec(con, "copy pgbench_accounts from stdin");
-	if (PQresultStatus(res) != PGRES_COPY_IN)
-	{
-		pg_log_fatal("unexpected copy in result: %s", PQerrorMessage(con));
-		exit(1);
-	}
-	PQclear(res);
+	executeStatementExpect(con, "copy pgbench_accounts from stdin", PGRES_COPY_IN, false);
 
 	INSTR_TIME_SET_CURRENT(start);