diff --git a/org.hl7.fhir.validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/validation/cli/services/ValidationService.java b/org.hl7.fhir.validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/validation/cli/services/ValidationService.java
index 49eae39377..cab82c48c1 100644
--- a/org.hl7.fhir.validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/validation/cli/services/ValidationService.java
+++ b/org.hl7.fhir.validation/src/main/java/org/hl7/fhir/validation/cli/services/ValidationService.java
@@ -489,24 +489,7 @@ public String initializeValidator(CliContext cliContext, String definitions, Tim
       if (sessionId != null) {
         System.out.println("No such cached session exists for session id " + sessionId + ", re-instantiating validator.");
       }
-      ValidationEngine validationEngine;
-      if (cliContext.getBaseEngine() != null && hasBaseEngineForKey(cliContext.getBaseEngine())) {
-        System.out.println("Building new validator engine from base engine: " + cliContext.getBaseEngine());
-        validationEngine = new ValidationEngine(getBaseEngine(cliContext.getBaseEngine()));
-        /* As a service, it wouldn't be efficient to have a base validation engine
-         * for every language. So we just use the baseEngine and set the language
-         * manually afterward.
-         */
-        validationEngine.setLanguage(cliContext.getLang());
-        validationEngine.setLocale(cliContext.getLocale());
-      } else {
-        System.out.println("Building new validator engine from CliContext");
-        if (cliContext.getSv() == null) {
-          String sv = determineVersion(cliContext);
-          cliContext.setSv(sv);
-        }
-        validationEngine  = buildValidationEngine(cliContext, definitions, tt);
-      }
+      ValidationEngine validationEngine = getValidationEngineFromCliContext(cliContext, definitions, tt);
       sessionId = sessionCache.cacheSession(validationEngine);
       System.out.println("Cached new session. Cache size = " + sessionCache.getSessionIds().size());
     } else {
@@ -515,6 +498,28 @@ public String initializeValidator(CliContext cliContext, String definitions, Tim
     return sessionId;
   }
 
+  private ValidationEngine getValidationEngineFromCliContext(CliContext cliContext, String definitions, TimeTracker tt) throws Exception {
+    ValidationEngine validationEngine;
+    if (cliContext.getBaseEngine() != null && hasBaseEngineForKey(cliContext.getBaseEngine())) {
+      System.out.println("Building new validator engine from base engine: " + cliContext.getBaseEngine());
+      validationEngine = new ValidationEngine(getBaseEngine(cliContext.getBaseEngine()));
+      /* As a service, it wouldn't be efficient to have a base validation engine
+       * for every language. So we just use the baseEngine and set the language
+       * manually afterward.
+       */
+      validationEngine.setLanguage(cliContext.getLang());
+      validationEngine.setLocale(cliContext.getLocale());
+    } else {
+      System.out.println("Building new validator engine from CliContext");
+      if (cliContext.getSv() == null) {
+        String sv = determineVersion(cliContext);
+        cliContext.setSv(sv);
+      }
+      validationEngine  = buildValidationEngine(cliContext, definitions, tt);
+    }
+    return validationEngine;
+  }
+
   protected ValidationEngine.ValidationEngineBuilder getValidationEngineBuilder() {
     return new ValidationEngine.ValidationEngineBuilder();
   }