diff --git a/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go b/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go
index 414f9ce8..aada3bbe 100644
--- a/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/internal/app/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func Execute(ctx context.Context) {
 		Use:   "daemon",
 		Short: "Run as a runner daemon",
 		Args:  cobra.MaximumNArgs(1),
-		RunE:  runDaemon(ctx, &configFile),
+		RunE:  getRunDaemonCommandProcessor(ctx, &configFile),
 	}
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(daemonCmd)
 
diff --git a/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go b/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go
index fffff195..d864af82 100644
--- a/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go
+++ b/internal/app/cmd/daemon.go
@@ -28,120 +28,75 @@ import (
 	"code.forgejo.org/forgejo/runner/v11/internal/pkg/ver"
 )
 
-func runDaemon(signalContext context.Context, configFile *string) func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+func getRunDaemonCommandProcessor(signalContext context.Context, configFile *string) func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	return func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		// signalContext will be 'done' when we receive a graceful shutdown signal; daemonContext is not a derived
-		// context because we want it to 'outlive' the signalContext in order to perform graceful cleanup.
-		daemonContext, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-		defer cancel()
-
-		ctx := common.WithDaemonContext(daemonContext, daemonContext)
-
-		cfg, err := config.LoadDefault(*configFile)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: %w", err)
-		}
-
-		initLogging(cfg)
-		log.Infoln("Starting runner daemon")
-
-		reg, err := config.LoadRegistration(cfg.Runner.File)
-		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			log.Error("registration file not found, please register the runner first")
-			return err
-		} else if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to load registration file: %w", err)
-		}
-
-		cfg.Tune(reg.Address)
-
-		lbls := reg.Labels
-		if len(cfg.Runner.Labels) > 0 {
-			lbls = cfg.Runner.Labels
-		}
-
-		ls := labels.Labels{}
-		for _, l := range lbls {
-			label, err := labels.Parse(l)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.WithError(err).Warnf("ignored invalid label %q", l)
-				continue
-			}
-			ls = append(ls, label)
-		}
-		if len(ls) == 0 {
-			log.Warn("no labels configured, runner may not be able to pick up jobs")
-		}
-
-		if ls.RequireDocker() {
-			dockerSocketPath, err := getDockerSocketPath(cfg.Container.DockerHost)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			if err := envcheck.CheckIfDockerRunning(ctx, dockerSocketPath); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			os.Setenv("DOCKER_HOST", dockerSocketPath)
-			if cfg.Container.DockerHost == "automount" {
-				cfg.Container.DockerHost = dockerSocketPath
-			}
-			// check the scheme, if the scheme is not npipe or unix
-			// set cfg.Container.DockerHost to "-" because it can't be mounted to the job container
-			if protoIndex := strings.Index(cfg.Container.DockerHost, "://"); protoIndex != -1 {
-				scheme := cfg.Container.DockerHost[:protoIndex]
-				if !strings.EqualFold(scheme, "npipe") && !strings.EqualFold(scheme, "unix") {
-					cfg.Container.DockerHost = "-"
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		cli := client.New(
-			reg.Address,
-			cfg.Runner.Insecure,
-			reg.UUID,
-			reg.Token,
-			ver.Version(),
-		)
-
-		runner := run.NewRunner(cfg, reg, cli)
-		// declare the labels of the runner before fetching tasks
-		resp, err := runner.Declare(ctx, ls.Names())
-		if err != nil && connect.CodeOf(err) == connect.CodeUnimplemented {
-			log.Warn("Because the Forgejo instance is an old version, skipping declaring the labels and version.")
-		} else if err != nil {
-			log.WithError(err).Error("fail to invoke Declare")
-			return err
-		} else {
-			log.Infof("runner: %s, with version: %s, with labels: %v, declared successfully",
-				resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetName(), resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetVersion(), resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetLabels())
-			// if declared successfully, override the labels in the.runner file with valid labels in the config file (if specified)
-			runner.Update(ctx, ls)
-			reg.Labels = ls.ToStrings()
-			if err := config.SaveRegistration(cfg.Runner.File, reg); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("failed to save runner config: %w", err)
-			}
-		}
-
-		poller := poll.New(ctx, cfg, cli, runner)
-
-		go poller.Poll()
-
-		<-signalContext.Done()
-		log.Infof("runner: %s shutdown initiated, waiting [runner].shutdown_timeout=%s for running jobs to complete before shutting down", resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetName(), cfg.Runner.ShutdownTimeout)
-
-		shutdownCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(daemonContext, cfg.Runner.ShutdownTimeout)
-		defer cancel()
-
-		err = poller.Shutdown(shutdownCtx)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Warnf("runner: %s cancelled in progress jobs during shutdown", resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetName())
-		}
-		return nil
+		return runDaemon(signalContext, configFile)
 	}
 }
 
+func runDaemon(signalContext context.Context, configFile *string) error {
+	// signalContext will be 'done' when we receive a graceful shutdown signal; daemonContext is not a derived context
+	// because we want it to 'outlive' the signalContext in order to perform graceful cleanup.
+	daemonContext, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	ctx := common.WithDaemonContext(daemonContext, daemonContext)
+
+	cfg, err := initializeConfig(configFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	initLogging(cfg)
+	log.Infoln("Starting runner daemon")
+
+	reg, err := loadRegistration(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	cfg.Tune(reg.Address)
+	ls := extractLabels(cfg, reg)
+
+	err = configCheck(ctx, cfg, ls)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	cli := createClient(cfg, reg)
+
+	runner, runnerName, err := createRunner(ctx, cfg, reg, cli, ls)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	poller := createPoller(ctx, cfg, cli, runner)
+
+	go poller.Poll()
+
+	<-signalContext.Done()
+	log.Infof("runner: %s shutdown initiated, waiting [runner].shutdown_timeout=%s for running jobs to complete before shutting down", runnerName, cfg.Runner.ShutdownTimeout)
+
+	shutdownCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(daemonContext, cfg.Runner.ShutdownTimeout)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	err = poller.Shutdown(shutdownCtx)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Warnf("runner: %s cancelled in progress jobs during shutdown", runnerName)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+var initializeConfig = func(configFile *string) (*config.Config, error) {
+	cfg, err := config.LoadDefault(*configFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: %w", err)
+	}
+	return cfg, nil
+}
+
 // initLogging setup the global logrus logger.
-func initLogging(cfg *config.Config) {
+var initLogging = func(cfg *config.Config) {
 	isTerm := isatty.IsTerminal(os.Stdout.Fd())
 	format := &log.TextFormatter{
 		DisableColors: !isTerm,
@@ -178,6 +133,98 @@ func initLogging(cfg *config.Config) {
 	}
 }
 
+var loadRegistration = func(cfg *config.Config) (*config.Registration, error) {
+	reg, err := config.LoadRegistration(cfg.Runner.File)
+	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		log.Error("registration file not found, please register the runner first")
+		return nil, err
+	} else if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load registration file: %w", err)
+	}
+	return reg, nil
+}
+
+var extractLabels = func(cfg *config.Config, reg *config.Registration) labels.Labels {
+	lbls := reg.Labels
+	if len(cfg.Runner.Labels) > 0 {
+		lbls = cfg.Runner.Labels
+	}
+
+	ls := labels.Labels{}
+	for _, l := range lbls {
+		label, err := labels.Parse(l)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).Warnf("ignored invalid label %q", l)
+			continue
+		}
+		ls = append(ls, label)
+	}
+	if len(ls) == 0 {
+		log.Warn("no labels configured, runner may not be able to pick up jobs")
+	}
+	return ls
+}
+
+var configCheck = func(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, ls labels.Labels) error {
+	if ls.RequireDocker() {
+		dockerSocketPath, err := getDockerSocketPath(cfg.Container.DockerHost)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := envcheck.CheckIfDockerRunning(ctx, dockerSocketPath); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		os.Setenv("DOCKER_HOST", dockerSocketPath)
+		if cfg.Container.DockerHost == "automount" {
+			cfg.Container.DockerHost = dockerSocketPath
+		}
+		// check the scheme, if the scheme is not npipe or unix
+		// set cfg.Container.DockerHost to "-" because it can't be mounted to the job container
+		if protoIndex := strings.Index(cfg.Container.DockerHost, "://"); protoIndex != -1 {
+			scheme := cfg.Container.DockerHost[:protoIndex]
+			if !strings.EqualFold(scheme, "npipe") && !strings.EqualFold(scheme, "unix") {
+				cfg.Container.DockerHost = "-"
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+var createClient = func(cfg *config.Config, reg *config.Registration) client.Client {
+	return client.New(
+		reg.Address,
+		cfg.Runner.Insecure,
+		reg.UUID,
+		reg.Token,
+		ver.Version(),
+	)
+}
+
+var createRunner = func(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, reg *config.Registration, cli client.Client, ls labels.Labels) (run.RunnerInterface, string, error) {
+	runner := run.NewRunner(cfg, reg, cli)
+	// declare the labels of the runner before fetching tasks
+	resp, err := runner.Declare(ctx, ls.Names())
+	if err != nil && connect.CodeOf(err) == connect.CodeUnimplemented {
+		log.Warn("Because the Forgejo instance is an old version, skipping declaring the labels and version.")
+	} else if err != nil {
+		log.WithError(err).Error("fail to invoke Declare")
+		return nil, "", err
+	} else {
+		log.Infof("runner: %s, with version: %s, with labels: %v, declared successfully",
+			resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetName(), resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetVersion(), resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetLabels())
+		// if declared successfully, override the labels in the.runner file with valid labels in the config file (if specified)
+		runner.Update(ctx, ls)
+		reg.Labels = ls.ToStrings()
+		if err := config.SaveRegistration(cfg.Runner.File, reg); err != nil {
+			return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("failed to save runner config: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+	return runner, resp.Msg.GetRunner().GetName(), nil
+}
+
+// func(ctx context.Context, cfg *config.Config, cli client.Client, runner run.RunnerInterface) poll.Poller
+var createPoller = poll.New
+
 var commonSocketPaths = []string{
 	"/var/run/docker.sock",
 	"/run/podman/podman.sock",