diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/clusterpolicy_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/clusterpolicy_types.go
index 2bed6ed1f4..31a651edc7 100644
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/clusterpolicy_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/clusterpolicy_types.go
@@ -94,8 +94,7 @@ func (p *ClusterPolicy) IsReady() bool {
 // Validate implements programmatic validation
 // namespaced means that the policy is bound to a namespace and therefore
 // should not filter/generate cluster wide resources.
-func (p *ClusterPolicy) Validate(clusterResources sets.String) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (p *ClusterPolicy) Validate(clusterResources sets.String) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	errs = append(errs, ValidatePolicyName(field.NewPath("name"), p.Name)...)
 	errs = append(errs, p.Spec.Validate(field.NewPath("spec"), p.IsNamespaced(), clusterResources)...)
 	return errs
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/image_verification_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/image_verification_types.go
index 20cfdfc68e..9a8a5d51d9 100644
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/image_verification_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/image_verification_types.go
@@ -42,8 +42,7 @@ type ImageVerification struct {
 }
 
 // Validate implements programmatic validation
-func (i *ImageVerification) Validate(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (i *ImageVerification) Validate(path *field.Path) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	hasKey := i.Key != ""
 	hasRoots := i.Roots != ""
 	hasSubject := i.Subject != ""
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/match_resources_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/match_resources_types.go
index 23be5a7ccd..915dbc2146 100644
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/match_resources_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/match_resources_types.go
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@ type MatchResources struct {
 }
 
 // Validate implements programmatic validation
-func (m *MatchResources) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (m *MatchResources) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	if len(m.Any) > 0 && len(m.All) > 0 {
 		errs = append(errs, field.Invalid(path, m, "Can't specify any and all together"))
 	}
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/policy_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/policy_types.go
index eda4cbb91d..b6d5f34160 100755
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/policy_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/policy_types.go
@@ -95,8 +95,7 @@ func (p *Policy) IsReady() bool {
 // Validate implements programmatic validation.
 // namespaced means that the policy is bound to a namespace and therefore
 // should not filter/generate cluster wide resources.
-func (p *Policy) Validate(namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (p *Policy) Validate(namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	errs = append(errs, ValidatePolicyName(field.NewPath("name"), p.Name)...)
 	errs = append(errs, p.Spec.Validate(field.NewPath("spec"), namespaced, clusterResources)...)
 	return errs
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/resource_description_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/resource_description_types.go
index 3f8d66bac7..e92802fe94 100644
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/resource_description_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/resource_description_types.go
@@ -53,8 +53,7 @@ type ResourceDescription struct {
 }
 
 // Validate implements programmatic validation
-func (r *ResourceDescription) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (r *ResourceDescription) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	if r.Name != "" && len(r.Names) > 0 {
 		errs = append(errs, field.Invalid(path, r, "Both name and names can not be specified together"))
 	}
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/rule_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/rule_types.go
index 2e6c756b98..7225a1f83a 100644
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/rule_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/rule_types.go
@@ -115,8 +115,7 @@ func (r *Rule) SetAnyAllConditions(in apiextensions.JSON) {
 }
 
 // ValidateRuleType checks only one type of rule is defined per rule
-func (r *Rule) ValidateRuleType(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (r *Rule) ValidateRuleType(path *field.Path) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	ruleTypes := []bool{r.HasMutate(), r.HasValidate(), r.HasGenerate(), r.HasVerifyImages()}
 	count := 0
 	for _, v := range ruleTypes {
@@ -298,8 +297,7 @@ func (r *Rule) ValidateMathExcludeConflict(path *field.Path) (errs field.ErrorLi
 }
 
 // Validate implements programmatic validation
-func (r *Rule) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (r *Rule) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	errs = append(errs, r.ValidateRuleType(path)...)
 	errs = append(errs, r.ValidateMathExcludeConflict(path)...)
 	errs = append(errs, r.MatchResources.Validate(path.Child("match"), namespaced, clusterResources)...)
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/spec_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/spec_types.go
index a7d73ee9a6..ffb86afe63 100644
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/spec_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/spec_types.go
@@ -133,8 +133,7 @@ func (s *Spec) BackgroundProcessingEnabled() bool {
 }
 
 // ValidateRuleNames checks if the rule names are unique across a policy
-func (s *Spec) ValidateRuleNames(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (s *Spec) ValidateRuleNames(path *field.Path) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	names := sets.NewString()
 	for i, rule := range s.Rules {
 		rulePath := path.Index(i)
@@ -147,8 +146,7 @@ func (s *Spec) ValidateRuleNames(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
 }
 
 // ValidateRules implements programmatic validation of Rules
-func (s *Spec) ValidateRules(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (s *Spec) ValidateRules(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	errs = append(errs, s.ValidateRuleNames(path)...)
 	for i, rule := range s.Rules {
 		errs = append(errs, rule.Validate(path.Index(i), namespaced, clusterResources)...)
@@ -157,8 +155,7 @@ func (s *Spec) ValidateRules(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources
 }
 
 // Validate implements programmatic validation
-func (s *Spec) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (s *Spec) Validate(path *field.Path, namespaced bool, clusterResources sets.String) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	errs = append(errs, s.ValidateRules(path.Child("rules"), namespaced, clusterResources)...)
 	if namespaced && len(s.ValidationFailureActionOverrides) > 0 {
 		errs = append(errs, field.Forbidden(path.Child("validationFailureActionOverrides"), "Use of validationFailureActionOverrides is supported only with ClusterPolicy"))
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/user_info_types.go b/api/kyverno/v1/user_info_types.go
index e63392e120..e51bbe4075 100644
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/user_info_types.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/user_info_types.go
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ type UserInfo struct {
 }
 
 // ValidateSubjects implements programmatic validation of Subjects
-func (u *UserInfo) ValidateSubjects(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (u *UserInfo) ValidateSubjects(path *field.Path) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	for index, subject := range u.Subjects {
 		entry := path.Index(index)
 		if subject.Kind == "" {
@@ -42,8 +41,7 @@ func (u *UserInfo) ValidateSubjects(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
 }
 
 // ValidateRoles implements programmatic validation of Roles
-func (u *UserInfo) ValidateRoles(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (u *UserInfo) ValidateRoles(path *field.Path) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	for i, r := range u.Roles {
 		role := strings.Split(r, ":")
 		if len(role) != 2 {
@@ -54,8 +52,7 @@ func (u *UserInfo) ValidateRoles(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
 }
 
 // Validate implements programmatic validation
-func (u *UserInfo) Validate(path *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func (u *UserInfo) Validate(path *field.Path) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	errs = append(errs, u.ValidateSubjects(path.Child("subjects"))...)
 	errs = append(errs, u.ValidateRoles(path.Child("roles"))...)
 	return errs
diff --git a/api/kyverno/v1/utils.go b/api/kyverno/v1/utils.go
index f86488eb3d..0be1ae8712 100755
--- a/api/kyverno/v1/utils.go
+++ b/api/kyverno/v1/utils.go
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ func ToJSON(in apiextensions.JSON) *apiextv1.JSON {
 }
 
 // ValidatePolicyName validates policy name
-func ValidatePolicyName(path *field.Path, name string) field.ErrorList {
-	var errs field.ErrorList
+func ValidatePolicyName(path *field.Path, name string) (errs field.ErrorList) {
 	// policy name is stored in the label of the report change request
 	if len(name) > 63 {
 		errs = append(errs, field.TooLong(path, name, 63))