diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 09d780b39c..297edfbcc6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -443,6 +443,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "self_encryption",
  "serde",
  "sn_client",
+ "sn_peers_acquisition",
  "sn_protocol",
  "sn_registers",
  "sn_transfers",
diff --git a/autonomi/Cargo.toml b/autonomi/Cargo.toml
index ff395c3661..96834b3035 100644
--- a/autonomi/Cargo.toml
+++ b/autonomi/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ rmp-serde = "1.1.1"
 self_encryption = "~0.29.0"
 serde = { version = "1.0.133", features = ["derive", "rc"] }
 sn_client = { path = "../sn_client" }
+sn_peers_acquisition = { path = "../sn_peers_acquisition", version = "0.5.0" }
 sn_protocol = { version = "0.17.5", path = "../sn_protocol" }
 sn_registers = { path = "../sn_registers", version = "0.3.18" }
 sn_transfers = { path = "../sn_transfers", version = "0.19.0" }
diff --git a/autonomi/tests/common/mod.rs b/autonomi/tests/common/mod.rs
index 010543b566..c01ae23187 100644
--- a/autonomi/tests/common/mod.rs
+++ b/autonomi/tests/common/mod.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 #![allow(dead_code)]
 
 use bytes::Bytes;
+use libp2p::Multiaddr;
 use rand::Rng;
 use sn_client::acc_packet::load_account_wallet_or_create_with_mnemonic;
+use sn_peers_acquisition::parse_peer_addr;
 use sn_transfers::{get_faucet_data_dir, HotWallet};
 
 /// When launching a testnet locally, we can use the faucet wallet.
@@ -24,3 +26,14 @@ pub fn enable_logging() {
         .with_env_filter(tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter::from_default_env())
         .try_init();
 }
+
+/// Parse the `SAFE_PEERS` env var into a list of Multiaddrs.
+///
+/// An empty `Vec` will be returned if the env var is not set.
+pub fn peers_from_env() -> Result<Vec<Multiaddr>, libp2p::multiaddr::Error> {
+    let Ok(peers_str) = std::env::var("SAFE_PEERS") else {
+        return Ok(vec![]);
+    };
+
+    peers_str.split(',').map(parse_peer_addr).collect()
+}
diff --git a/autonomi/tests/file.rs b/autonomi/tests/file.rs
index 0e221ae6c7..63c88172f6 100644
--- a/autonomi/tests/file.rs
+++ b/autonomi/tests/file.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ mod common;
 async fn file() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     common::enable_logging();
 
-    let mut client = Client::connect(&[]).await?;
+    let mut client = Client::connect(&common::peers_from_env()?).await?;
     let mut wallet = common::load_hot_wallet_from_faucet();
 
     // let data = common::gen_random_data(1024 * 1024 * 1000);
diff --git a/autonomi/tests/put.rs b/autonomi/tests/put.rs
index 5c2111f36b..49eb263130 100644
--- a/autonomi/tests/put.rs
+++ b/autonomi/tests/put.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ mod common;
 async fn put() {
     common::enable_logging();
 
-    let mut client = Client::connect(&[]).await.unwrap();
+    let mut client = Client::connect(&common::peers_from_env().unwrap())
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
     let mut wallet = common::load_hot_wallet_from_faucet();
     let data = common::gen_random_data(1024 * 1024 * 10);
 
diff --git a/autonomi/tests/register.rs b/autonomi/tests/register.rs
index 79cd00368d..c51873b966 100644
--- a/autonomi/tests/register.rs
+++ b/autonomi/tests/register.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ mod common;
 async fn register() {
     common::enable_logging();
 
-    let mut client = Client::connect(&[]).await.unwrap();
+    let mut client = Client::connect(&common::peers_from_env().unwrap())
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
     let mut wallet = common::load_hot_wallet_from_faucet();
 
     // Owner key of the register.
diff --git a/sn_peers_acquisition/src/error.rs b/sn_peers_acquisition/src/error.rs
index 1e9f4b7da2..d5df7c969b 100644
--- a/sn_peers_acquisition/src/error.rs
+++ b/sn_peers_acquisition/src/error.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ pub type Result<T, E = Error> = std::result::Result<T, E>;
 #[derive(Debug, Error)]
 pub enum Error {
     #[error("Could not parse the supplied multiaddr or socket address")]
-    InvalidPeerAddr,
+    InvalidPeerAddr(#[from] libp2p::multiaddr::Error),
     #[error("Could not obtain network contacts from {0} after {1} retries")]
     FailedToObtainPeersFromUrl(String, usize),
     #[error("No valid multaddr was present in the contacts file at {0}")]
diff --git a/sn_peers_acquisition/src/lib.rs b/sn_peers_acquisition/src/lib.rs
index 10a7b1a775..db467d6249 100644
--- a/sn_peers_acquisition/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sn_peers_acquisition/src/lib.rs
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ impl PeersArgs {
 }
 
 /// Parse strings like `1.2.3.4:1234` and `/ip4/1.2.3.4/tcp/1234` into a multiaddr.
-pub fn parse_peer_addr(addr: &str) -> Result<Multiaddr> {
+pub fn parse_peer_addr(addr: &str) -> std::result::Result<Multiaddr, libp2p::multiaddr::Error> {
     // Parse valid IPv4 socket address, e.g. `1.2.3.4:1234`.
     if let Ok(addr) = addr.parse::<std::net::SocketAddrV4>() {
         let start_addr = Multiaddr::from(*addr.ip());
@@ -180,12 +180,7 @@ pub fn parse_peer_addr(addr: &str) -> Result<Multiaddr> {
     }
 
     // Parse any valid multiaddr string
-    if let Ok(addr) = addr.parse::<Multiaddr>() {
-        debug!("Parsing a full multiaddr: {:?}", addr);
-        return Ok(addr);
-    }
-
-    Err(Error::InvalidPeerAddr)
+    addr.parse::<Multiaddr>()
 }
 
 /// Get and parse a list of peers from a URL. The URL should contain one multiaddr per line.