diff --git a/src/node.ts b/src/node.ts
index 0419b68..bed4541 100644
--- a/src/node.ts
+++ b/src/node.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import KeyPairEd25519 from "#ed25519.js";
 import { AbstractLevel } from "abstract-level";
 import { P2PService } from "#service/p2p.js";
 import { RegistryService } from "#service/registry.js";
+import { hash } from "@noble/hashes/_assert";
 const DEFAULT_LOGGER = {
   info(s: any) {
     console.info(s);
@@ -33,6 +34,12 @@ export class S5Node {
     this._nodeConfig = config;
   }
 
+  private _started = false;
+
+  get started(): boolean {
+    return this._started;
+  }
+
   private _config?: S5Config;
 
   get config() {
@@ -61,6 +68,8 @@ export class S5Node {
       p2p: this._nodeConfig.p2p,
     };
 
+    this._started = true;
+
     const p2p = new P2PService(this);
     const registry = new RegistryService(this);
 
@@ -70,6 +79,7 @@ export class S5Node {
   }
 
   public async stop() {
+    this._started = false;
     await this.services.p2p.stop();
   }
 
diff --git a/src/service/p2p.ts b/src/service/p2p.ts
index 4c716e4..1a4ac84 100644
--- a/src/service/p2p.ts
+++ b/src/service/p2p.ts
@@ -289,6 +289,10 @@ export class P2PService extends EventEmitter {
   }
 
   async connectToNode(connectionUris: URL[], retried = false): Promise<void> {
+    if (!this.node.started) {
+      return;
+    }
+
     const unsupported = new URL("http://0.0.0.0");
     unsupported.protocol = "unsupported";