diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 04f234845..186c5257c 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ matrix:
     ### run linters ###
     - env: MODE=lint
       install:
-        - curl -sfL https://install.goreleaser.com/github.com/golangci/golangci-lint.sh | bash -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v1.13
+        - curl -sfL https://install.goreleaser.com/github.com/golangci/golangci-lint.sh | bash -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v1.16.0
         # install protoc
         - curl -L https://github.com/google/protobuf/releases/download/v3.6.1/protoc-3.6.1-linux-x86_64.zip -o /tmp/protoc.zip
         - unzip /tmp/protoc.zip -d "$HOME"/protoc
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ad61d6f2a..d275d54e7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ build-dev-deps: ## Install dependencies for builds
 	go get github.com/mattn/goveralls
 	go get golang.org/x/tools/cover
 	go get github.com/modocache/gover
-	curl -sfL https://install.goreleaser.com/github.com/golangci/golangci-lint.sh | bash -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v1.10.2
+	curl -sfL https://install.goreleaser.com/github.com/golangci/golangci-lint.sh | bash -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v1.16.0
 
 .PHONY: lint
 lint: check-copyrights ## Analyze and find programs in source code
diff --git a/internal/dbutil/pgutil/query.go b/internal/dbutil/pgutil/query.go
index 3e1a4064e..d69fafb12 100644
--- a/internal/dbutil/pgutil/query.go
+++ b/internal/dbutil/pgutil/query.go
@@ -113,10 +113,6 @@ func QuerySchema(db dbschema.Queryer) (*dbschema.Schema, error) {
 			default:
 				return fmt.Errorf("unhandled constraint type %q", constraintType)
 			}
-
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
 		}
 		return rows.Err()
 	}()
diff --git a/pkg/certificates/certificates.go b/pkg/certificates/certificates.go
index 7b3785eaa..a61ec69bf 100644
--- a/pkg/certificates/certificates.go
+++ b/pkg/certificates/certificates.go
@@ -302,12 +302,9 @@ func (authDB *AuthorizationDB) UserIDs() (userIDs []string, err error) {
 	err = authDB.DB.Iterate(storage.IterateOptions{
 		Recurse: true,
 	}, func(iterator storage.Iterator) error {
-		listItem := new(storage.ListItem)
-		for more := true; more; {
-			more = iterator.Next(listItem)
-			if listItem != nil {
-				userIDs = append(userIDs, listItem.Key.String())
-			}
+		var listItem storage.ListItem
+		for iterator.Next(&listItem) {
+			userIDs = append(userIDs, listItem.Key.String())
 		}
 		return nil
 	})
@@ -320,19 +317,13 @@ func (authDB *AuthorizationDB) List() (auths Authorizations, err error) {
 		Recurse: true,
 	}, func(iterator storage.Iterator) error {
 		var listErrs errs.Group
-		listItem := new(storage.ListItem)
-		for more := true; more; {
-			more = iterator.Next(listItem)
-			if listItem != nil {
-				var nextAuths Authorizations
-				if err := nextAuths.Unmarshal(listItem.Value); err != nil {
-					listErrs.Add(err)
-				}
-				auths = append(auths, nextAuths...)
-			}
-			if !more {
-				break
+		var listItem storage.ListItem
+		for iterator.Next(&listItem) {
+			var nextAuths Authorizations
+			if err := nextAuths.Unmarshal(listItem.Value); err != nil {
+				listErrs.Add(err)
 			}
+			auths = append(auths, nextAuths...)
 		}
 		return listErrs.Err()
 	})
diff --git a/satellite/satellitedb/certdb.go b/satellite/satellitedb/certdb.go
index 07a83b397..1118c1cb2 100644
--- a/satellite/satellitedb/certdb.go
+++ b/satellite/satellitedb/certdb.go
@@ -32,9 +32,6 @@ func (b *certDB) SavePublicKey(ctx context.Context, nodeID storj.NodeID, publicK
 			return Error.Wrap(errs.Combine(err, tx.Rollback()))
 		}
 
-		if err != nil {
-			return Error.Wrap(errs.Combine(err, tx.Rollback()))
-		}
 		_, err = tx.Create_CertRecord(ctx,
 			dbx.CertRecord_Publickey(pubbytes),
 			dbx.CertRecord_Id(nodeID.Bytes()),
diff --git a/storage/common.go b/storage/common.go
index 16215997a..2d98c864a 100644
--- a/storage/common.go
+++ b/storage/common.go
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ type IterateOptions struct {
 
 // Iterator iterates over a sequence of ListItems
 type Iterator interface {
-	// Next prepares the next list item
-	// returns false when you reach final item
+	// Next prepares the next list item.
+	// It returns true on success, or false if there is no next result row or an error happened while preparing it.
 	Next(item *ListItem) bool
 }