diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f9190ec3d8d7..dfb541f83dd9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* (server) [\#8481](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/8481) Don't create files when running `{appd} tendermint show-*` subcommands.
+
 ### Improvements
 
 * (x/bank) [\#8479](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/8479) Aditional client denom metadata validation for `base` and `display` denoms.
diff --git a/server/tm_cmds.go b/server/tm_cmds.go
index b05a88f797da..854d4597fee8 100644
--- a/server/tm_cmds.go
+++ b/server/tm_cmds.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func ShowNodeIDCmd() *cobra.Command {
 			serverCtx := GetServerContextFromCmd(cmd)
 			cfg := serverCtx.Config
 
-			nodeKey, err := p2p.LoadOrGenNodeKey(cfg.NodeKeyFile())
+			nodeKey, err := p2p.LoadNodeKey(cfg.NodeKeyFile())
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func ShowValidatorCmd() *cobra.Command {
 			serverCtx := GetServerContextFromCmd(cmd)
 			cfg := serverCtx.Config
 
-			privValidator := pvm.LoadOrGenFilePV(cfg.PrivValidatorKeyFile(), cfg.PrivValidatorStateFile())
+			privValidator := pvm.LoadFilePV(cfg.PrivValidatorKeyFile(), cfg.PrivValidatorStateFile())
 			valPubKey, err := privValidator.GetPubKey()
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func ShowAddressCmd() *cobra.Command {
 			serverCtx := GetServerContextFromCmd(cmd)
 			cfg := serverCtx.Config
 
-			privValidator := pvm.LoadOrGenFilePV(cfg.PrivValidatorKeyFile(), cfg.PrivValidatorStateFile())
+			privValidator := pvm.LoadFilePV(cfg.PrivValidatorKeyFile(), cfg.PrivValidatorStateFile())
 			valConsAddr := (sdk.ConsAddress)(privValidator.GetAddress())
 
 			output, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString(cli.OutputFlag)