diff --git a/storage/conf.nim b/storage/conf.nim
index b1ea573c..d3c14bce 100644
--- a/storage/conf.nim
+++ b/storage/conf.nim
@@ -396,12 +396,21 @@ func validateAutonatConfig*(config: StorageConf): ?!void =
   if config.isRelayServer and not config.nat.hasExtIp:
     return failure "--relay-server requires --nat=extip:<IP>"
 
+  if config.noBootstrapNode and not config.nat.hasExtIp:
+    return failure(
+      "--no-bootstrap-node requires --nat=extip:<IP>: without bootstrap peers " &
+        "AutoNAT has no one to probe and the node can never become reachable"
+    )
+
   if config.natMaxQueueSize < 1:
     return failure "--nat-max-queue-size must be at least 1"
 
   if config.natNumPeersToAsk < 1:
     return failure "--nat-num-peers-to-ask must be at least 1"
 
+  if config.natObservedAddrMinCount < 1:
+    return failure "--nat-observed-addr-min-count must be at least 1"
+
   if config.natMinConfidence < 0.0 or config.natMinConfidence > 1.0:
     return failure "--nat-min-confidence must be between 0 and 1"
 
diff --git a/storage/storage.nim b/storage/storage.nim
index e27ea988..9c5690b0 100644
--- a/storage/storage.nim
+++ b/storage/storage.nim
@@ -302,12 +302,8 @@ proc new*(
         enableDialableCandidates = true,
       )
     )
-    # At the first AutoNAT probe, the only identify observations available come
-    # from the bootstrap nodes, so requiring more observations than there are
-    # bootstrap nodes would make the threshold unreachable. The floor of 1
-    # covers the case where the bootstrap list is empty.
-    let observedAddrMinCount =
-      max(1, min(config.natObservedAddrMinCount, bootstrapNodes.len))
+
+    let observedAddrMinCount = min(config.natObservedAddrMinCount, bootstrapNodes.len)
     switchBuilder = switchBuilder.withObservedAddrManager(
       ObservedAddrManager.new(minCount = observedAddrMinCount)
     )
diff --git a/tests/storage/testconf.nim b/tests/storage/testconf.nim
index ac096568..e82f29f8 100644
--- a/tests/storage/testconf.nim
+++ b/tests/storage/testconf.nim
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ proc validConfig(): StorageConf =
     natMaxQueueSize: 3,
     natNumPeersToAsk: 5,
     natMinConfidence: 0.7,
+    natObservedAddrMinCount: 1,
   )
 
 suite "Conf - validateAutonatConfig":
@@ -42,6 +43,19 @@ suite "Conf - validateAutonatConfig":
 
     check config.validateAutonatConfig().isOk
 
+  test "rejects no-bootstrap-node without extip":
+    var config = validConfig()
+    config.noBootstrapNode = true
+
+    check config.validateAutonatConfig().isErr
+
+  test "accepts no-bootstrap-node with extip":
+    var config = validConfig()
+    config.noBootstrapNode = true
+    config.nat = nat.NatConfig(hasExtIp: true, extIp: parseIpAddress("1.2.3.4"))
+
+    check config.validateAutonatConfig().isOk
+
   test "rejects nat-max-queue-size below 1":
     var config = validConfig()
     config.natMaxQueueSize = 0
@@ -66,6 +80,18 @@ suite "Conf - validateAutonatConfig":
 
     check config.validateAutonatConfig().isOk
 
+  test "rejects nat-observed-addr-min-count below 1":
+    var config = validConfig()
+    config.natObservedAddrMinCount = 0
+
+    check config.validateAutonatConfig().isErr
+
+  test "accepts nat-observed-addr-min-count of 1":
+    var config = validConfig()
+    config.natObservedAddrMinCount = 1
+
+    check config.validateAutonatConfig().isOk
+
   test "rejects negative nat-min-confidence":
     var config = validConfig()
     config.natMinConfidence = -0.1