diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/admin/admin.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/admin/admin.go
index ce440b0e06404..8c5572013f816 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/admin/admin.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/admin/admin.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import (
 // ErrNoAdminAPILeader happen when there's no leader for the Admin API.
 var ErrNoAdminAPILeader = errors.New("no Admin API leader found")
 
-type HTTPError struct {
+type HTTPResponseError struct {
 	Method   string
 	URL      string
 	Response *http.Response
@@ -549,19 +549,19 @@ func (a *AdminAPI) sendAndReceive(
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("request %s %s failed: %s, unable to read body: %w", method, url, status, err)
 		}
-		return nil, &HTTPError{Response: res, Body: resBody}
+		return nil, &HTTPResponseError{Response: res, Body: resBody}
 	}
 
 	return res, nil
 }
 
-func (he HTTPError) DecodeGenericErrorBody() (GenericErrorBody, error) {
+func (he HTTPResponseError) DecodeGenericErrorBody() (GenericErrorBody, error) {
 	var resp GenericErrorBody
 	err := json.Unmarshal(he.Body, &resp)
 	return resp, err
 }
 
-func (he HTTPError) Error() string {
+func (he HTTPResponseError) Error() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("request %s %s failed: %s, body: %q",
 		he.Method, he.URL, http.StatusText(he.Response.StatusCode), he.Body)
 }
diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/api.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/api.go
index 8433d3e9e43c5..f0b0aa80101ed 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/api.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/api/api.go
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ func sendMetricsToURL(b metricsBody, url string, conf config.Config) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return sendRequest(bs, http.MethodPost, url, conf)
+	return sendRequest(bs, url, conf)
 }
 
 func sendEnvironmentToURL(
@@ -183,10 +183,10 @@ func sendEnvironmentToURL(
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return sendRequest(bs, http.MethodPost, url, conf)
+	return sendRequest(bs, url, conf)
 }
 
-func sendRequest(body []byte, method, url string, conf config.Config) error {
+func sendRequest(body []byte, url string, conf config.Config) error {
 	if !conf.Rpk.EnableUsageStats {
 		log.Debug("Sending usage stats is disabled.")
 		return nil
@@ -200,7 +200,6 @@ func sendRequest(body []byte, method, url string, conf config.Config) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	log.Debugf("%s '%s' body='%s'", method, url, body)
 	client := &http.Client{}
 	res, err := client.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/import.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/import.go
index 3336f58918668..1eb5a2e346be7 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/import.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/import.go
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ func importConfig(
 
 	// PUT to admin API
 	result, err := client.PatchClusterConfig(upsert, remove)
-	if he := (*admin.HTTPError)(nil); errors.As(err, &he) {
+	if he := (*admin.HTTPResponseError)(nil); errors.As(err, &he) {
 		// Special case 400 (validation) errors with friendly output
 		// about which configuration properties were invalid.
 		if he.Response.StatusCode == 400 {
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func importConfig(
 }
 
 func formatValidationError(
-	err error, httpErr *admin.HTTPError,
+	err error, httpErr *admin.HTTPResponseError,
 ) (string, error) {
 	// Output structured validation errors from server
 	var validationErrs map[string]string
diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/set.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/set.go
index 2fa5d4336f4cf..f1224179dd999 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/set.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/config/set.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ If an empty string is given as the value, the property is reset to its default.`
 			}
 
 			result, err := client.PatchClusterConfig(upsert, remove)
-			if he := (*admin.HTTPError)(nil); errors.As(err, &he) {
+			if he := (*admin.HTTPResponseError)(nil); errors.As(err, &he) {
 				// Special case 400 (validation) errors with friendly output
 				// about which configuration properties were invalid.
 				if he.Response.StatusCode == 400 {
diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/disable.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/disable.go
index 653b8adfcd458..844148589c30d 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/disable.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/disable.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func newDisableCommand(fs afero.Fs) *cobra.Command {
 			out.MaybeDie(err, "unable to initialize admin client: %v", err)
 
 			err = client.DisableMaintenanceMode(nodeID)
-			if he := (*admin.HTTPError)(nil); errors.As(err, &he) {
+			if he := (*admin.HTTPResponseError)(nil); errors.As(err, &he) {
 				if he.Response.StatusCode == 404 {
 					body, bodyErr := he.DecodeGenericErrorBody()
 					if bodyErr == nil {
diff --git a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/enable.go b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/enable.go
index 09413e65e790c..7ac79621809fe 100644
--- a/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/enable.go
+++ b/src/go/rpk/pkg/cli/cmd/cluster/maintenance/enable.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ node exists that is already in maintenance mode then an error will be returned.
 			out.MaybeDie(err, "unable to initialize admin client: %v", err)
 
 			err = client.EnableMaintenanceMode(nodeID)
-			var he *admin.HTTPError
+			var he *admin.HTTPResponseError
 			if errors.As(err, &he) {
 				if he.Response.StatusCode == 404 {
 					body, bodyErr := he.DecodeGenericErrorBody()