diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
@@ -234,9 +234,10 @@
 
     def __call__(self, *args, input=None):
         # TestNodeCLI is callable with bitcoin-cli command-line args
-        self.args = [str(arg) for arg in args]
-        self.input = input
-        return self
+        cli = TestNodeCLI(self.binary, self.datadir)
+        cli.args = [str(arg) for arg in args]
+        cli.input = input
+        return cli
 
     def __getattr__(self, command):
         def dispatcher(*args, **kwargs):
@@ -261,12 +262,14 @@
         cli_stdout, cli_stderr = process.communicate(input=self.input)
         returncode = process.poll()
         if returncode:
-            match = re.match(r'error code: ([-0-9]+)\nerror message:\n(.*)', cli_stderr)
+            match = re.match(
+                r'error code: ([-0-9]+)\nerror message:\n(.*)', cli_stderr)
             if match:
                 code, message = match.groups()
                 raise JSONRPCException(dict(code=int(code), message=message))
             # Ignore cli_stdout, raise with cli_stderr
-            raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(returncode, self.binary, output=cli_stderr)
+            raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(
+                returncode, self.binary, output=cli_stderr)
         try:
             return json.loads(cli_stdout, parse_float=decimal.Decimal)
         except JSONDecodeError: