diff --git a/libp2p/peerinfo.nim b/libp2p/peerinfo.nim
index 31c2a6bd7..38a148dcf 100644
--- a/libp2p/peerinfo.nim
+++ b/libp2p/peerinfo.nim
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ type
       privateKey*: PrivateKey
     of HasPublic:
       key: Option[PublicKey]
+    # gossip 1.1 spec related
+    # https://github.com/libp2p/specs/blob/master/pubsub/gossipsub/gossipsub-v1.1.md#explicit-peering-agreements
+    maintain*: bool 
 
 proc id*(p: PeerInfo): string =
   p.peerId.pretty()
diff --git a/libp2p/switch.nim b/libp2p/switch.nim
index 909a766e0..848ceff69 100644
--- a/libp2p/switch.nim
+++ b/libp2p/switch.nim
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ declareCounter(libp2p_failed_upgrade, "peers failed upgrade")
 type
     NoPubSubException = object of CatchableError
 
+    Maintainer = object
+      loopFut: Future[void]
+      sleepFut: Future[void]
+
     Switch* = ref object of RootObj
       peerInfo*: PeerInfo
       connections*: Table[string, Connection]
@@ -54,6 +58,8 @@ type
       secureManagers*: seq[Secure]
       pubSub*: Option[PubSub]
       dialedPubSubPeers: HashSet[string]
+      running: bool
+      maintainFuts: Table[string, Maintainer]
 
 proc newNoPubSubException(): ref CatchableError {.inline.} =
   result = newException(NoPubSubException, "no pubsub provided!")
@@ -364,6 +370,24 @@ proc stop*(s: Switch) {.async.} =
   try:
     trace "stopping switch"
 
+    s.running = false
+
+    # Stop explicit peering system (gossip 1.1 related, but useful even with other pubsubs)
+    # Cancel their sleep as it likely is running for 5 mins
+    # running is false so they should exit after that
+    # and so we just wait/ensure all has finished
+    # Maintain has tryAndWarn so we should not be priting any error here
+    # nevertheless use checkFutures!
+    # Notice.. this is ugly but we have no clean way to express a Chain of operations/futures
+    # and simply post a cancelation/stop from the root of the chain...
+    let
+      maintainers = toSeq(s.maintainFuts.values)
+      sleepFuts = maintainers.mapIt(it.sleepFut)
+      loopFuts = maintainers.mapIt(it.loopFut)
+    for f in sleepFuts: f.cancel()
+    checkFutures(await allFinished(sleepFuts))
+    checkFutures(await allFinished(loopFuts))
+
     # we want to report errors but we do not want to fail
     # or crash here, cos we need to clean possibly MANY items
     # and any following conn/transport won't be cleaned up
@@ -386,6 +410,16 @@ proc stop*(s: Switch) {.async.} =
   except CatchableError as exc:
     warn "error stopping switch", exc = exc.msg
 
+proc maintainPeer(s: Switch, peerInfo: PeerInfo) {.async.} =
+  while s.running:
+    tryAndWarn "explicit peer maintain":
+      var conn = s.connections.getOrDefault(peerInfo.id)
+      if conn.isNil or conn.closed:
+        # attempt redial in this case
+        discard
+    
+      await sleepAsync(5.minutes) # spec recommended 
+
 proc subscribeToPeer*(s: Switch, peerInfo: PeerInfo) {.async, gcsafe.} =
   trace "about to subscribe to pubsub peer", peer = peerInfo.shortLog()
   ## Subscribe to pub sub peer
@@ -406,6 +440,10 @@ proc subscribeToPeer*(s: Switch, peerInfo: PeerInfo) {.async, gcsafe.} =
       await conn.close()
     finally:
       s.dialedPubSubPeers.excl(peerInfo.id)
+  
+    if peerInfo.maintain:
+      s.maintainFuts[peerInfo.id].loopFut = maintainPeer(s, peerInfo)
+      s.maintainFuts[peerInfo.id].sleepFut = newFuture[void]() # stub until real one happens
 
 proc subscribe*(s: Switch, topic: string,
                 handler: TopicHandler): Future[void] =