diff --git a/cmd/geth/usage.go b/cmd/geth/usage.go
index 34937948f..bafc3d48c 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/usage.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/usage.go
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ var AppHelpFlagGroups = []flagGroup{
 	{
 		Name: "SHARDING",
 		Flags: []cli.Flag{
+			utils.ActorFlag,
 			utils.DepositFlag,
 		},
 	},
diff --git a/sharding/node/node.go b/sharding/node/node.go
index 4a370e955..73c818cce 100644
--- a/sharding/node/node.go
+++ b/sharding/node/node.go
@@ -162,7 +162,10 @@ func (n *shardingNode) Register(constructor sharding.ServiceConstructor) error {
 
 // Close the RPC client connection.
 func (n *shardingNode) Close() {
-	n.rpcClient.Close()
+	// rpcClient could be nil if the connection failed.
+	if n.rpcClient != nil {
+		n.rpcClient.Close()
+	}
 }
 
 // CreateTXOpts creates a *TransactOpts with a signer using the default account on the keystore.
diff --git a/sharding/node/utils.go b/sharding/node/utils.go
index 1838d9973..1a701f5b2 100644
--- a/sharding/node/utils.go
+++ b/sharding/node/utils.go
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ func dialRPC(endpoint string) (*rpc.Client, error) {
 func initSMC(n *shardingNode) (*contracts.SMC, error) {
 	b, err := n.client.CodeAt(context.Background(), sharding.ShardingManagerAddress, nil)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to get contract code at %s: %v", sharding.ShardingManagerAddress, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to get contract code at %s: %v", sharding.ShardingManagerAddress.Str(), err)
 	}
 
 	// Deploy SMC for development only.
 	// TODO: Separate contract deployment from the sharding node. It would only need to be deployed
 	// once on the mainnet, so this code would not need to ship with the node.
 	if len(b) == 0 {
-		log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("No sharding manager contract found at %s. Deploying new contract.", sharding.ShardingManagerAddress))
+		log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("No sharding manager contract found at %s. Deploying new contract.", sharding.ShardingManagerAddress.Str()))
 
 		txOps, err := n.CreateTXOpts(big.NewInt(0))
 		if err != nil {
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func initSMC(n *shardingNode) (*contracts.SMC, error) {
 			time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
 		}
 
-		log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("New contract deployed at %s", addr))
+		log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("New contract deployed at %s", addr.Str()))
 		return contract, nil
 	}