diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 2e39bcd9a5..564a889a56 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ void SetupServerArgs(NodeContext& node)
     gArgs.AddArg("-proxy=<ip:port>", "Connect through SOCKS5 proxy, set -noproxy to disable (default: disabled)", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::CONNECTION);
     gArgs.AddArg("-proxyrandomize", strprintf("Randomize credentials for every proxy connection. This enables Tor stream isolation (default: %u)", DEFAULT_PROXYRANDOMIZE), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::CONNECTION);
     gArgs.AddArg("-seednode=<ip>", "Connect to a node to retrieve peer addresses, and disconnect. This option can be specified multiple times to connect to multiple nodes.", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::CONNECTION);
+    gArgs.AddArg("-networkactive", "Enable all P2P network activity (default: 1). Can be changed by the setnetworkactive RPC command", ArgsManager::ALLOW_BOOL, OptionsCategory::CONNECTION);
     gArgs.AddArg("-timeout=<n>", strprintf("Specify connection timeout in milliseconds (minimum: 1, default: %d)", DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::CONNECTION);
     gArgs.AddArg("-peertimeout=<n>", strprintf("Specify p2p connection timeout in seconds. This option determines the amount of time a peer may be inactive before the connection to it is dropped. (minimum: 1, default: %d)", DEFAULT_PEER_CONNECT_TIMEOUT), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY | ArgsManager::DEBUG_ONLY, OptionsCategory::CONNECTION);
     gArgs.AddArg("-torcontrol=<ip>:<port>", strprintf("Tor control port to use if onion listening enabled (default: %s)", DEFAULT_TOR_CONTROL), ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::CONNECTION);
@@ -1372,7 +1373,7 @@ bool AppInitMain(const util::Ref& context, NodeContext& node)
     assert(!node.banman);
     node.banman = MakeUnique<BanMan>(GetDataDir() / "banlist.dat", &uiInterface, gArgs.GetArg("-bantime", DEFAULT_MISBEHAVING_BANTIME));
     assert(!node.connman);
-    node.connman = std::unique_ptr<CConnman>(new CConnman(GetRand(std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max()), GetRand(std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max())));
+    node.connman = MakeUnique<CConnman>(GetRand(std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max()), GetRand(std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max()), gArgs.GetBoolArg("-networkactive", true));
     // Make mempool generally available in the node context. For example the connection manager, wallet, or RPC threads,
     // which are all started after this, may use it from the node context.
     assert(!node.mempool);
diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index 21d340b516..aa0486f0fb 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -2262,12 +2262,14 @@ void CConnman::SetNetworkActive(bool active)
     uiInterface.NotifyNetworkActiveChanged(fNetworkActive);
 }
 
-CConnman::CConnman(uint64_t nSeed0In, uint64_t nSeed1In) : nSeed0(nSeed0In), nSeed1(nSeed1In)
+CConnman::CConnman(uint64_t nSeed0In, uint64_t nSeed1In, bool network_active)
+    : nSeed0(nSeed0In), nSeed1(nSeed1In)
 {
     SetTryNewOutboundPeer(false);
 
     Options connOptions;
     Init(connOptions);
+    SetNetworkActive(network_active);
 }
 
 NodeId CConnman::GetNewNodeId()
diff --git a/src/net.h b/src/net.h
index 3c23763954..487b1e98cd 100644
--- a/src/net.h
+++ b/src/net.h
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ public:
         }
     }
 
-    CConnman(uint64_t seed0, uint64_t seed1);
+    CConnman(uint64_t seed0, uint64_t seed1, bool network_active = true);
     ~CConnman();
     bool Start(CScheduler& scheduler, const Options& options);