diff --git a/embed/etcd.go b/embed/etcd.go
index 5e00ce13f1b..94f3aca00ba 100644
--- a/embed/etcd.go
+++ b/embed/etcd.go
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/transport"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/rafthttp"
-	"github.com/coreos/pkg/capnslog"
 
+	"github.com/coreos/pkg/capnslog"
 	"github.com/soheilhy/cmux"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/keepalive"
@@ -64,15 +64,17 @@ const (
 
 // Etcd contains a running etcd server and its listeners.
 type Etcd struct {
-	Peers            []*peerListener
-	Clients          []net.Listener
+	Peers   []*peerListener
+	Clients []net.Listener
+	// a map of contexts for the servers that serves client requests.
+	sctxs            map[string]*serveCtx
 	metricsListeners []net.Listener
-	Server           *etcdserver.EtcdServer
+
+	Server *etcdserver.EtcdServer
 
 	cfg   Config
 	stopc chan struct{}
 	errc  chan error
-	sctxs map[string]*serveCtx
 
 	closeOnce sync.Once
 }
@@ -185,37 +187,16 @@ func StartEtcd(inCfg *Config) (e *Etcd, err error) {
 
 	e.Server.Start()
 
-	// configure peer handlers after rafthttp.Transport started
-	ph := etcdhttp.NewPeerHandler(e.Server)
-	var peerTLScfg *tls.Config
-	if !cfg.PeerTLSInfo.Empty() {
-		if peerTLScfg, err = cfg.PeerTLSInfo.ServerConfig(); err != nil {
-			return e, err
-		}
+	if err = e.servePeers(); err != nil {
+		return e, err
 	}
-	for _, p := range e.Peers {
-		gs := v3rpc.Server(e.Server, peerTLScfg)
-		m := cmux.New(p.Listener)
-		go gs.Serve(m.Match(cmux.HTTP2()))
-		srv := &http.Server{
-			Handler:     grpcHandlerFunc(gs, ph),
-			ReadTimeout: 5 * time.Minute,
-			ErrorLog:    defaultLog.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0), // do not log user error
-		}
-		go srv.Serve(m.Match(cmux.Any()))
-		p.serve = func() error { return m.Serve() }
-		p.close = func(ctx context.Context) error {
-			// gracefully shutdown http.Server
-			// close open listeners, idle connections
-			// until context cancel or time-out
-			e.stopGRPCServer(gs)
-			return srv.Shutdown(ctx)
-		}
+	if err = e.serveClients(); err != nil {
+		return e, err
 	}
-
-	if err = e.serve(); err != nil {
+	if err = e.serveMetrics(); err != nil {
 		return e, err
 	}
+
 	serving = true
 	return e, nil
 }
@@ -331,6 +312,44 @@ func startPeerListeners(cfg *Config) (peers []*peerListener, err error) {
 	return peers, nil
 }
 
+// configure peer handlers after rafthttp.Transport started
+func (e *Etcd) servePeers() (err error) {
+	ph := etcdhttp.NewPeerHandler(e.Server)
+	var peerTLScfg *tls.Config
+	if !e.cfg.PeerTLSInfo.Empty() {
+		if peerTLScfg, err = e.cfg.PeerTLSInfo.ServerConfig(); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	for _, p := range e.Peers {
+		gs := v3rpc.Server(e.Server, peerTLScfg)
+		m := cmux.New(p.Listener)
+		go gs.Serve(m.Match(cmux.HTTP2()))
+		srv := &http.Server{
+			Handler:     grpcHandlerFunc(gs, ph),
+			ReadTimeout: 5 * time.Minute,
+			ErrorLog:    defaultLog.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0), // do not log user error
+		}
+		go srv.Serve(m.Match(cmux.Any()))
+		p.serve = func() error { return m.Serve() }
+		p.close = func(ctx context.Context) error {
+			// gracefully shutdown http.Server
+			// close open listeners, idle connections
+			// until context cancel or time-out
+			e.stopGRPCServer(gs)
+			return srv.Shutdown(ctx)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// start peer servers in a goroutine
+	for _, pl := range e.Peers {
+		go func(l *peerListener) {
+			e.errHandler(l.serve())
+		}(pl)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func startClientListeners(cfg *Config) (sctxs map[string]*serveCtx, err error) {
 	if err = cfg.ClientSelfCert(); err != nil {
 		plog.Fatalf("could not get certs (%v)", err)
@@ -412,7 +431,7 @@ func startClientListeners(cfg *Config) (sctxs map[string]*serveCtx, err error) {
 	return sctxs, nil
 }
 
-func (e *Etcd) serve() (err error) {
+func (e *Etcd) serveClients() (err error) {
 	if !e.cfg.ClientTLSInfo.Empty() {
 		plog.Infof("ClientTLS: %s", e.cfg.ClientTLSInfo)
 	}
@@ -421,13 +440,6 @@ func (e *Etcd) serve() (err error) {
 		plog.Infof("cors = %s", e.cfg.CorsInfo)
 	}
 
-	// Start the peer server in a goroutine
-	for _, pl := range e.Peers {
-		go func(l *peerListener) {
-			e.errHandler(l.serve())
-		}(pl)
-	}
-
 	// Start a client server goroutine for each listen address
 	var h http.Handler
 	if e.Config().EnableV2 {
@@ -458,12 +470,17 @@ func (e *Etcd) serve() (err error) {
 			Timeout: e.cfg.GRPCKeepAliveTimeout,
 		}))
 	}
+
+	// start client servers in a goroutine
 	for _, sctx := range e.sctxs {
 		go func(s *serveCtx) {
 			e.errHandler(s.serve(e.Server, &e.cfg.ClientTLSInfo, h, e.errHandler, gopts...))
 		}(sctx)
 	}
+	return nil
+}
 
+func (e *Etcd) serveMetrics() (err error) {
 	if len(e.cfg.ListenMetricsUrls) > 0 {
 		metricsMux := http.NewServeMux()
 		etcdhttp.HandleMetricsHealth(metricsMux, e.Server)
@@ -484,7 +501,6 @@ func (e *Etcd) serve() (err error) {
 			}(murl, ml)
 		}
 	}
-
 	return nil
 }