diff --git a/lib/executor/helpers.go b/lib/executor/helpers.go
index 80699407dab..701d8a3e10a 100644
--- a/lib/executor/helpers.go
+++ b/lib/executor/helpers.go
@@ -16,12 +16,6 @@ import (
 	"go.k6.io/k6/ui/pb"
 )
 
-const (
-	// maxConcurrentVUs is an arbitrary limit for sanity checks.
-	// It prevents running an exaggeratedly large number of concurrent VUs which may lead to an out-of-memory.
-	maxConcurrentVUs int = 100_000_000
-)
-
 func sumStagesDuration(stages []Stage) (result time.Duration) {
 	for _, s := range stages {
 		result += s.Duration.TimeDuration()
@@ -39,27 +33,6 @@ func getStagesUnscaledMaxTarget(unscaledStartValue int64, stages []Stage) int64
 	return max
 }
 
-// validateTargetShifts validates the VU Target shifts.
-// It will append an error for any VU target that is larger than the maximum value allowed.
-// Each Stage needs a Target value. The stages array can be empty. The Targes could be negative.
-func validateTargetShifts(startVUs int64, stages []Stage) []error {
-	var errors []error
-
-	if startVUs > int64(maxConcurrentVUs) {
-		errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf(
-			"the startVUs exceed max limit of %d", maxConcurrentVUs))
-	}
-
-	for i := 0; i < len(stages); i++ {
-		if stages[i].Target.Int64 > int64(maxConcurrentVUs) {
-			errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf(
-				"target for stage %d exceeds max limit of %d", i+1, maxConcurrentVUs))
-		}
-	}
-
-	return errors
-}
-
 // A helper function to avoid code duplication
 func validateStages(stages []Stage) []error {
 	var errors []error
diff --git a/lib/executor/ramping_vus.go b/lib/executor/ramping_vus.go
index 9acdc4e1773..5887c7accd1 100644
--- a/lib/executor/ramping_vus.go
+++ b/lib/executor/ramping_vus.go
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@ import (
 	"go.k6.io/k6/ui/pb"
 )
 
-const rampingVUsType = "ramping-vus"
+const (
+	rampingVUsType = "ramping-vus"
+
+	// maxConcurrentVUs is an arbitrary limit for sanity checks.
+	// It prevents running an exaggeratedly large number of concurrent VUs which may lead to an out-of-memory.
+	maxConcurrentVUs int = 100_000_000
+)
 
 func init() {
 	lib.RegisterExecutorConfigType(
@@ -612,7 +618,7 @@ func (rs *rampingVUsRunState) runLoopsIfPossible(ctx context.Context, cancel fun
 		rs.vuHandles[i] = newStoppedVUHandle(
 			ctx, getVU, returnVU, rs.executor.nextIterationCounters,
 			&rs.executor.config.BaseConfig, rs.executor.logger.WithField("vuNum", i))
-		go rs.vuHandles[i].runLoopsIfPossible(rs.runIteration) //nolint:contextcheck
+		go rs.vuHandles[i].runLoopsIfPossible(rs.runIteration)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -710,3 +716,27 @@ func waiter(ctx context.Context, start time.Time) func(offset time.Duration) boo
 		return false
 	}
 }
+
+// validateTargetShifts validates the VU Target shifts.
+// It will append an error for any VU target that is larger than the maximum value allowed.
+// Each Stage needs a Target value. The stages array can be empty. The Targes could be negative.
+//
+// TODO: after https://github.com/grafana/k6/issues/1499 this validation
+// function could be useless.
+func validateTargetShifts(startVUs int64, stages []Stage) []error {
+	var errors []error
+
+	if startVUs > int64(maxConcurrentVUs) {
+		errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf(
+			"the startVUs exceed max limit of %d", maxConcurrentVUs))
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < len(stages); i++ {
+		if stages[i].Target.Int64 > int64(maxConcurrentVUs) {
+			errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf(
+				"target for stage %d exceeds max limit of %d", i+1, maxConcurrentVUs))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return errors
+}