diff --git a/src/lib_p2p/p2p.ml b/src/lib_p2p/p2p.ml
index 8b8808082..733b80f98 100644
--- a/src/lib_p2p/p2p.ml
+++ b/src/lib_p2p/p2p.ml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ type 'peer_meta peer_meta_config = 'peer_meta P2p_pool.peer_meta_config = {
 type 'conn_meta conn_meta_config = 'conn_meta P2p_pool.conn_meta_config = {
   conn_meta_encoding : 'conn_meta Data_encoding.t ;
   conn_meta_value : P2p_peer.Id.t -> 'conn_meta ;
+  private_node : 'conn_meta -> bool ;
 }
 
 type 'msg app_message_encoding = 'msg P2p_pool.encoding =
diff --git a/src/lib_p2p/p2p.mli b/src/lib_p2p/p2p.mli
index 27864cbe3..306b5b06c 100644
--- a/src/lib_p2p/p2p.mli
+++ b/src/lib_p2p/p2p.mli
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ type 'peer_meta peer_meta_config = {
 type 'conn_meta conn_meta_config = {
   conn_meta_encoding : 'conn_meta Data_encoding.t;
   conn_meta_value : P2p_peer.Id.t -> 'conn_meta ;
+  private_node : 'conn_meta -> bool ;
 }
 
 type 'msg app_message_encoding = Encoding : {
diff --git a/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.ml b/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.ml
index a16a5bd7b..66d96a630 100644
--- a/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.ml
+++ b/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.ml
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ type 'msg message_config = {
 type 'conn_meta conn_meta_config = {
   conn_meta_encoding : 'conn_meta Data_encoding.t ;
   conn_meta_value : P2p_peer.Id.t -> 'conn_meta ;
+  private_node : 'conn_meta -> bool ;
 }
 
 type ('msg, 'peer_meta, 'conn_meta) t = {
diff --git a/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.mli b/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.mli
index db4b89d7c..dc149f2d2 100644
--- a/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.mli
+++ b/src/lib_p2p/p2p_pool.mli
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ type 'peer_meta peer_meta_config = {
 type 'conn_meta conn_meta_config = {
   conn_meta_encoding : 'conn_meta Data_encoding.t ;
   conn_meta_value : P2p_peer.Id.t -> 'conn_meta ;
+  private_node : 'conn_meta -> bool ;
 }
 
 type 'msg message_config = {
diff --git a/src/lib_p2p/test/test_p2p_pool.ml b/src/lib_p2p/test/test_p2p_pool.ml
index a900e48bc..780896d3d 100644
--- a/src/lib_p2p/test/test_p2p_pool.ml
+++ b/src/lib_p2p/test/test_p2p_pool.ml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ let peer_meta_config : metadata P2p_pool.peer_meta_config = {
 let conn_meta_config : metadata P2p_pool.conn_meta_config = {
   conn_meta_encoding = Data_encoding.empty ;
   conn_meta_value = (fun _ -> ()) ;
+  private_node = (fun _ -> false) ;
 }
 
 let sync ch =
diff --git a/src/lib_shell/node.ml b/src/lib_shell/node.ml
index fdf57d688..08cc43b0a 100644
--- a/src/lib_shell/node.ml
+++ b/src/lib_shell/node.ml
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ type t = {
   shutdown: unit -> unit Lwt.t ;
 }
 
+
 let peer_metadata_cfg : _ P2p.peer_meta_config = {
   peer_meta_encoding = Peer_metadata.encoding ;
   peer_meta_initial = () ;
@@ -73,28 +74,32 @@ let peer_metadata_cfg : _ P2p.peer_meta_config = {
 
 let connection_metadata_cfg cfg : _ P2p.conn_meta_config = {
   conn_meta_encoding = Connection_metadata.encoding ;
+  private_node = (fun { private_node } -> private_node) ;
   conn_meta_value = fun _ -> cfg;
 }
 
+let init_connection_metadata opt =
+  let open Connection_metadata in
+  match opt with
+  | None ->
+      { disable_mempool = false ;
+        private_node = false }
+
+  | Some c ->
+      { disable_mempool = c.P2p.disable_mempool ;
+        private_node = c.P2p.private_mode }
+
 let init_p2p p2p_params =
   match p2p_params with
   | None ->
-      let conn_metadata_cfg =
-        connection_metadata_cfg {
-          Connection_metadata.
-          disable_mempool = false ;
-          private_node = false ;
-        } in
+      let c_meta = init_connection_metadata None in
+      let conn_metadata_cfg = connection_metadata_cfg c_meta in
       lwt_log_notice "P2P layer is disabled" >>= fun () ->
       return
         (P2p.faked_network peer_metadata_cfg, conn_metadata_cfg)
   | Some (config, limits) ->
-      let conn_metadata_cfg =
-        connection_metadata_cfg {
-          Connection_metadata.
-          disable_mempool = config.P2p.disable_mempool ;
-          private_node = false ;
-        } in
+      let c_meta = init_connection_metadata (Some config) in
+      let conn_metadata_cfg = connection_metadata_cfg c_meta in
       lwt_log_notice "bootstraping chain..." >>= fun () ->
       P2p.create
         ~config ~limits