diff --git a/ethereum/p2p/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/discovery/internal/PeerDiscoveryController.java b/ethereum/p2p/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/discovery/internal/PeerDiscoveryController.java
index 29a0135b88..3cfc0fdea9 100644
--- a/ethereum/p2p/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/discovery/internal/PeerDiscoveryController.java
+++ b/ethereum/p2p/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/discovery/internal/PeerDiscoveryController.java
@@ -201,7 +201,11 @@ public void start() {
       throw new IllegalStateException("The peer table had already been started");
     }
 
-    bootstrapNodes.stream().filter(p -> isPeerPermitted(localPeer, p)).forEach(peerTable::tryAdd);
+    final List<DiscoveryPeer> initialDiscoveryPeers =
+        bootstrapNodes.stream()
+            .filter(p -> isPeerPermitted(localPeer, p))
+            .collect(Collectors.toList());
+    initialDiscoveryPeers.stream().forEach(peerTable::tryAdd);
 
     recursivePeerRefreshState =
         new RecursivePeerRefreshState(
@@ -215,16 +219,20 @@ public void start() {
             PEER_REFRESH_ROUND_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS,
             100);
 
-    final List<DiscoveryPeer> initialDiscoveryPeers =
-        bootstrapNodes.stream()
-            .filter(p -> isPeerPermitted(localPeer, p))
-            .collect(Collectors.toList());
-
     if (nodePermissioningController.isPresent()) {
+
+      // if smart contract permissioning is enabled, bond with bootnodes
+      if (nodePermissioningController.get().getSyncStatusNodePermissioningProvider().isPresent()) {
+        for (DiscoveryPeer p : initialDiscoveryPeers) {
+          bond(p);
+        }
+      }
+
       nodePermissioningController
           .get()
           .startPeerDiscoveryCallback(
               () -> recursivePeerRefreshState.start(initialDiscoveryPeers, localPeer.getId()));
+
     } else {
       recursivePeerRefreshState.start(initialDiscoveryPeers, localPeer.getId());
     }
diff --git a/ethereum/p2p/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/NodePermissioningControllerTestHelper.java b/ethereum/p2p/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/NodePermissioningControllerTestHelper.java
index 2ae8e7112f..73fb223bbf 100644
--- a/ethereum/p2p/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/NodePermissioningControllerTestHelper.java
+++ b/ethereum/p2p/src/test/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/p2p/NodePermissioningControllerTestHelper.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.doAnswer;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
+
 public class NodePermissioningControllerTestHelper {
 
   private final EnodeURL localNode;
@@ -88,6 +91,15 @@ public NodePermissioningController build() {
           });
     }
 
+    ArgumentCaptor<Runnable> callback = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(Runnable.class);
+    doAnswer(
+            (i) -> {
+              callback.getValue().run();
+              return null;
+            })
+        .when(nodePermissioningController)
+        .startPeerDiscoveryCallback(callback.capture());
+
     return nodePermissioningController;
   }
 }
diff --git a/ethereum/permissioning/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/permissioning/node/NodePermissioningController.java b/ethereum/permissioning/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/permissioning/node/NodePermissioningController.java
index 3783315401..89fc2509c4 100644
--- a/ethereum/permissioning/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/permissioning/node/NodePermissioningController.java
+++ b/ethereum/permissioning/src/main/java/tech/pegasys/pantheon/ethereum/permissioning/node/NodePermissioningController.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 
@@ -66,8 +65,7 @@ public void startPeerDiscoveryCallback(final Runnable peerDiscoveryCallback) {
     }
   }
 
-  @VisibleForTesting
-  Optional<SyncStatusNodePermissioningProvider> getSyncStatusNodePermissioningProvider() {
+  public Optional<SyncStatusNodePermissioningProvider> getSyncStatusNodePermissioningProvider() {
     return syncStatusNodePermissioningProvider;
   }