diff --git a/cmd/geth/js_test.go b/cmd/geth/js_test.go
index 41e1034e9f..dee25e44e6 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/js_test.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/js_test.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ const (
 
 var (
 	versionRE   = regexp.MustCompile(strconv.Quote(`"compilerVersion":"` + solcVersion + `"`))
+	testNodeKey = crypto.ToECDSA(common.Hex2Bytes("4b50fa71f5c3eeb8fdc452224b2395af2fcc3d125e06c32c82e048c0559db03f"))
 	testGenesis = `{"` + testAddress[2:] + `": {"balance": "` + testBalance + `"}}`
 )
 
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ func testJEthRE(t *testing.T) (string, *testjethre, *eth.Ethereum) {
 	ks := crypto.NewKeyStorePlain(filepath.Join(tmp, "keystore"))
 	am := accounts.NewManager(ks)
 	ethereum, err := eth.New(&eth.Config{
+		NodeKey:        testNodeKey,
 		DataDir:        tmp,
 		AccountManager: am,
 		MaxPeers:       0,
@@ -122,7 +124,7 @@ func TestNodeInfo(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer ethereum.Stop()
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmp)
-	want := `{"DiscPort":0,"IP":"0.0.0.0","ListenAddr":"","Name":"test","NodeID":"00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000","NodeUrl":"enode://00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000@0.0.0.0:0","TCPPort":0,"Td":"0"}`
+	want := `{"DiscPort":0,"IP":"0.0.0.0","ListenAddr":"","Name":"test","NodeID":"4cb2fc32924e94277bf94b5e4c983beedb2eabd5a0bc941db32202735c6625d020ca14a5963d1738af43b6ac0a711d61b1a06de931a499fe2aa0b1a132a902b5","NodeUrl":"enode://4cb2fc32924e94277bf94b5e4c983beedb2eabd5a0bc941db32202735c6625d020ca14a5963d1738af43b6ac0a711d61b1a06de931a499fe2aa0b1a132a902b5@0.0.0.0:0","TCPPort":0,"Td":"131072"}`
 	checkEvalJSON(t, repl, `admin.nodeInfo()`, want)
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/geth/main.go b/cmd/geth/main.go
index 56f383b776..9d935efbd4 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/main.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/main.go
@@ -260,6 +260,7 @@ JavaScript API. See https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Javascipt-Conso
 		utils.AutoDAGFlag,
 		utils.NATFlag,
 		utils.NatspecEnabledFlag,
+		utils.NoDiscoverFlag,
 		utils.NodeKeyFileFlag,
 		utils.NodeKeyHexFlag,
 		utils.RPCEnabledFlag,
diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index cb774aa5bf..155110ddce 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -235,6 +235,10 @@ var (
 		Usage: "NAT port mapping mechanism (any|none|upnp|pmp|extip:<IP>)",
 		Value: "any",
 	}
+	NoDiscoverFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  "nodiscover",
+		Usage: "Disables the peer discovery mechanism (manual peer addition)",
+	}
 	WhisperEnabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
 		Name:  "shh",
 		Usage: "Enable whisper",
@@ -312,6 +316,7 @@ func MakeEthConfig(clientID, version string, ctx *cli.Context) *eth.Config {
 		Port:               ctx.GlobalString(ListenPortFlag.Name),
 		NAT:                GetNAT(ctx),
 		NatSpec:            ctx.GlobalBool(NatspecEnabledFlag.Name),
+		Discovery:          !ctx.GlobalBool(NoDiscoverFlag.Name),
 		NodeKey:            GetNodeKey(ctx),
 		Shh:                ctx.GlobalBool(WhisperEnabledFlag.Name),
 		Dial:               true,
@@ -320,7 +325,6 @@ func MakeEthConfig(clientID, version string, ctx *cli.Context) *eth.Config {
 		SolcPath:           ctx.GlobalString(SolcPathFlag.Name),
 		AutoDAG:            ctx.GlobalBool(AutoDAGFlag.Name) || ctx.GlobalBool(MiningEnabledFlag.Name),
 	}
-
 }
 
 func GetChain(ctx *cli.Context) (*core.ChainManager, common.Database, common.Database) {
diff --git a/eth/backend.go b/eth/backend.go
index aeaac788a0..18e214d44d 100644
--- a/eth/backend.go
+++ b/eth/backend.go
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	MaxPeers        int
 	MaxPendingPeers int
+	Discovery       bool
 	Port            string
 
 	// Space-separated list of discovery node URLs
@@ -311,6 +312,7 @@ func New(config *Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 		Name:            config.Name,
 		MaxPeers:        config.MaxPeers,
 		MaxPendingPeers: config.MaxPendingPeers,
+		Discovery:       config.Discovery,
 		Protocols:       protocols,
 		NAT:             config.NAT,
 		NoDial:          !config.Dial,
@@ -449,14 +451,10 @@ func (s *Ethereum) Start() error {
 		ClientString:    s.net.Name,
 		ProtocolVersion: ProtocolVersion,
 	})
-
-	if s.net.MaxPeers > 0 {
-		err := s.net.Start()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+	err := s.net.Start()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-
 	// periodically flush databases
 	go s.syncDatabases()
 
diff --git a/p2p/server.go b/p2p/server.go
index af08380e18..5890418108 100644
--- a/p2p/server.go
+++ b/p2p/server.go
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ type Server struct {
 	// Zero defaults to preset values.
 	MaxPendingPeers int
 
+	// Discovery specifies whether the peer discovery mechanism should be started
+	// or not. Disabling is usually useful for protocol debugging (manual topology).
+	Discovery bool
+
 	// Name sets the node name of this server.
 	// Use common.MakeName to create a name that follows existing conventions.
 	Name string
@@ -237,9 +241,26 @@ func (srv *Server) AddPeer(node *discover.Node) {
 func (srv *Server) Self() *discover.Node {
 	srv.lock.Lock()
 	defer srv.lock.Unlock()
+
+	// If the server's not running, return an empty node
 	if !srv.running {
 		return &discover.Node{IP: net.ParseIP("0.0.0.0")}
 	}
+	// If the node is running but discovery is off, manually assemble the node infos
+	if srv.ntab == nil {
+		// Inbound connections disabled, use zero address
+		if srv.listener == nil {
+			return &discover.Node{IP: net.ParseIP("0.0.0.0"), ID: discover.PubkeyID(&srv.PrivateKey.PublicKey)}
+		}
+		// Otherwise inject the listener address too
+		addr := srv.listener.Addr().(*net.TCPAddr)
+		return &discover.Node{
+			ID:  discover.PubkeyID(&srv.PrivateKey.PublicKey),
+			IP:  addr.IP,
+			TCP: uint16(addr.Port),
+		}
+	}
+	// Otherwise return the live node infos
 	return srv.ntab.Self()
 }
 
@@ -275,9 +296,6 @@ func (srv *Server) Start() (err error) {
 	if srv.PrivateKey == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Server.PrivateKey must be set to a non-nil key")
 	}
-	if srv.MaxPeers <= 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("Server.MaxPeers must be > 0")
-	}
 	if srv.newTransport == nil {
 		srv.newTransport = newRLPX
 	}
@@ -293,15 +311,22 @@ func (srv *Server) Start() (err error) {
 	srv.peerOpDone = make(chan struct{})
 
 	// node table
-	ntab, err := discover.ListenUDP(srv.PrivateKey, srv.ListenAddr, srv.NAT, srv.NodeDatabase)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	if srv.Discovery {
+		ntab, err := discover.ListenUDP(srv.PrivateKey, srv.ListenAddr, srv.NAT, srv.NodeDatabase)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		srv.ntab = ntab
 	}
-	srv.ntab = ntab
-	dialer := newDialState(srv.StaticNodes, srv.ntab, srv.MaxPeers/2)
+
+	dynPeers := srv.MaxPeers / 2
+	if !srv.Discovery {
+		dynPeers = 0
+	}
+	dialer := newDialState(srv.StaticNodes, srv.ntab, dynPeers)
 
 	// handshake
-	srv.ourHandshake = &protoHandshake{Version: baseProtocolVersion, Name: srv.Name, ID: ntab.Self().ID}
+	srv.ourHandshake = &protoHandshake{Version: baseProtocolVersion, Name: srv.Name, ID: discover.PubkeyID(&srv.PrivateKey.PublicKey)}
 	for _, p := range srv.Protocols {
 		srv.ourHandshake.Caps = append(srv.ourHandshake.Caps, p.cap())
 	}
@@ -457,7 +482,9 @@ running:
 	}
 
 	// Terminate discovery. If there is a running lookup it will terminate soon.
-	srv.ntab.Close()
+	if srv.ntab != nil {
+		srv.ntab.Close()
+	}
 	// Disconnect all peers.
 	for _, p := range peers {
 		p.Disconnect(DiscQuitting)
@@ -489,7 +516,7 @@ func (srv *Server) encHandshakeChecks(peers map[discover.NodeID]*Peer, c *conn)
 		return DiscTooManyPeers
 	case peers[c.id] != nil:
 		return DiscAlreadyConnected
-	case c.id == srv.ntab.Self().ID:
+	case c.id == srv.Self().ID:
 		return DiscSelf
 	default:
 		return nil