diff --git a/cmd/statusd/main.go b/cmd/statusd/main.go
index 677512d2a..5fb4d4a2f 100644
--- a/cmd/statusd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/statusd/main.go
@@ -5,11 +5,14 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
+	"os/signal"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/status-im/status-go/cmd/statusd/debug"
 	"github.com/status-im/status-go/geth/api"
+	"github.com/status-im/status-go/geth/common"
 	"github.com/status-im/status-go/geth/params"
 )
 
@@ -23,7 +26,8 @@ var (
 	nodeKeyFile    = flag.String("nodekey", "", "P2P node key file (private key)")
 	dataDir        = flag.String("datadir", params.DataDir, "Data directory for the databases and keystore")
 	networkID      = flag.Int("networkid", params.RopstenNetworkID, "Network identifier (integer, 1=Homestead, 3=Ropsten, 4=Rinkeby, 777=StatusChain)")
-	whisperEnabled = flag.Bool("shh", false, "SHH protocol enabled")
+	lesEnabled     = flag.Bool("les", false, "LES protocol enabled (default is disabled)")
+	whisperEnabled = flag.Bool("shh", false, "Whisper protocol enabled (default is disabled)")
 	swarmEnabled   = flag.Bool("swarm", false, "Swarm protocol enabled")
 	httpEnabled    = flag.Bool("http", false, "HTTP RPC endpoint enabled (default: false)")
 	httpPort       = flag.Int("httpport", params.HTTPPort, "HTTP RPC server's listening port")
@@ -33,10 +37,10 @@ var (
 	logLevel       = flag.String("log", "INFO", `Log level, one of: "ERROR", "WARN", "INFO", "DEBUG", and "TRACE"`)
 	logFile        = flag.String("logfile", "", "Path to the log file")
 	version        = flag.Bool("version", false, "Print version")
-	lesEnabled     = flag.Bool("les", true, "LES protocol enabled")
 
 	listenAddr = flag.String("listenaddr", ":30303", "IP address and port of this node (e.g. 127.0.0.1:30303)")
 	standalone = flag.Bool("standalone", true, "Don't actively connect to peers, wait for incoming connections")
+	bootnodes  = flag.String("bootnodes", "", "A list of bootnodes separated by comma")
 
 	// shh stuff
 	identityFile = flag.String("shh.identityfile", "", "Protocol identity file (private key used for asymmetric encryption)")
@@ -74,6 +78,9 @@ func main() {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// handle interrupt signals
+	go haltOnInterruptSignal(backend.NodeManager())
+
 	// wait till node is started
 	<-started
 
@@ -132,6 +139,20 @@ func makeNodeConfig() (*params.NodeConfig, error) {
 	nodeConfig.LightEthConfig.Enabled = *lesEnabled
 	nodeConfig.SwarmConfig.Enabled = *swarmEnabled
 
+	if *standalone {
+		nodeConfig.BootClusterConfig.Enabled = false
+		nodeConfig.BootClusterConfig.BootNodes = nil
+	} else {
+		nodeConfig.Discovery = true
+	}
+
+	// Even if standalone is true and discovery is disabled,
+	// it's possible to use bootnodes in NodeManager.PopulateStaticPeers().
+	// TODO(adam): research if we need NodeManager.PopulateStaticPeers() at all.
+	if *bootnodes != "" {
+		nodeConfig.BootClusterConfig.BootNodes = strings.Split(*bootnodes, ",")
+	}
+
 	if *whisperEnabled {
 		return whisperConfig(nodeConfig)
 	}
@@ -184,3 +205,28 @@ Options:
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, usage) // nolint: gas
 	flag.PrintDefaults()
 }
+
+// haltOnInterruptSignal catches interrupt signal (SIGINT) and
+// stops the node. It times out after 5 seconds
+// if the node can not be stopped.
+func haltOnInterruptSignal(nodeManager common.NodeManager) {
+	signalCh := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	signal.Notify(signalCh, os.Interrupt)
+	defer signal.Stop(signalCh)
+	<-signalCh
+
+	log.Println("Got interrupt, shutting down...")
+
+	nodeStopped, err := nodeManager.StopNode()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Failed to stop node: %v", err.Error())
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	select {
+	case <-nodeStopped:
+	case <-time.After(time.Second * 5):
+		log.Printf("Stopping node timed out")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/statusd/whispercfg.go b/cmd/statusd/whispercfg.go
index b99b580c2..d53128361 100644
--- a/cmd/statusd/whispercfg.go
+++ b/cmd/statusd/whispercfg.go
@@ -64,11 +64,6 @@ func whisperConfig(nodeConfig *params.NodeConfig) (*params.NodeConfig, error) {
 	}
 	nodeConfig.HTTPHost = "0.0.0.0"
 
-	if *standalone {
-		nodeConfig.BootClusterConfig.Enabled = false
-		nodeConfig.BootClusterConfig.BootNodes = nil
-	}
-
 	return nodeConfig, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/geth/node/manager.go b/geth/node/manager.go
index 01a8de50e..6819ba185 100644
--- a/geth/node/manager.go
+++ b/geth/node/manager.go
@@ -48,10 +48,7 @@ type NodeManager struct {
 
 // NewNodeManager makes new instance of node manager
 func NewNodeManager() *NodeManager {
-	m := &NodeManager{}
-	go HaltOnInterruptSignal(m) // allow interrupting running nodes
-
-	return m
+	return &NodeManager{}
 }
 
 // StartNode start Status node, fails if node is already started
diff --git a/geth/node/node.go b/geth/node/node.go
index 43d379ec9..b6fe60e0c 100644
--- a/geth/node/node.go
+++ b/geth/node/node.go
@@ -17,9 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/node"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/discover"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/discv5"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/nat"
-	gethparams "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/params"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/whisper/mailserver"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/whisper/notifications"
 	whisper "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/whisper/whisperv5"
@@ -93,11 +91,11 @@ func defaultEmbeddedNodeConfig(config *params.NodeConfig) *node.Config {
 		Name:              config.Name,
 		Version:           config.Version,
 		P2P: p2p.Config{
-			NoDiscovery:      true,
+			NoDiscovery:      !config.Discovery,
 			DiscoveryV5:      true,
 			DiscoveryV5Addr:  ":0",
-			BootstrapNodes:   makeBootstrapNodes(),
-			BootstrapNodesV5: makeBootstrapNodesV5(),
+			BootstrapNodes:   nil,
+			BootstrapNodesV5: nil,
 			ListenAddr:       config.ListenAddr,
 			NAT:              nat.Any(),
 			MaxPeers:         config.MaxPeers,
@@ -117,9 +115,8 @@ func defaultEmbeddedNodeConfig(config *params.NodeConfig) *node.Config {
 		nc.HTTPPort = config.HTTPPort
 	}
 
-	if !config.BootClusterConfig.Enabled {
-		nc.P2P.BootstrapNodes = nil
-		nc.P2P.BootstrapNodesV5 = nil
+	if config.Discovery {
+		nc.P2P.BootstrapNodes = makeBootstrapNodes(config.BootClusterConfig.BootNodes)
 	}
 
 	return nc
@@ -215,11 +212,7 @@ func makeWSHost(config *params.NodeConfig) string {
 }
 
 // makeBootstrapNodes returns default (hence bootstrap) list of peers
-func makeBootstrapNodes() []*discover.Node {
-	// on desktops params.TestnetBootnodes and params.MainBootnodes,
-	// on mobile client we deliberately keep this list empty
-	enodes := []string{}
-
+func makeBootstrapNodes(enodes []string) []*discover.Node {
 	var bootstrapNodes []*discover.Node
 	for _, enode := range enodes {
 		bootstrapNodes = append(bootstrapNodes, discover.MustParseNode(enode))
@@ -227,15 +220,3 @@ func makeBootstrapNodes() []*discover.Node {
 
 	return bootstrapNodes
 }
-
-// makeBootstrapNodesV5 returns default (hence bootstrap) list of peers
-func makeBootstrapNodesV5() []*discv5.Node {
-	enodes := gethparams.DiscoveryV5Bootnodes
-
-	var bootstrapNodes []*discv5.Node
-	for _, enode := range enodes {
-		bootstrapNodes = append(bootstrapNodes, discv5.MustParseNode(enode))
-	}
-
-	return bootstrapNodes
-}
diff --git a/geth/node/utils.go b/geth/node/utils.go
index c3111af03..ec4b2db67 100644
--- a/geth/node/utils.go
+++ b/geth/node/utils.go
@@ -2,11 +2,8 @@ package node
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
-	osSignal "os/signal"
 
 	"github.com/status-im/status-go/geth/common"
-	"github.com/status-im/status-go/geth/log"
 	"github.com/status-im/status-go/geth/signal"
 )
 
@@ -26,23 +23,3 @@ func HaltOnPanic() {
 		common.Fatalf(err) // os.exit(1) is called internally
 	}
 }
-
-// HaltOnInterruptSignal stops node and panics if you press Ctrl-C enough times
-func HaltOnInterruptSignal(nodeManager *NodeManager) {
-	sigc := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
-	osSignal.Notify(sigc, os.Interrupt)
-	defer osSignal.Stop(sigc)
-	<-sigc
-	if nodeManager.node == nil {
-		return
-	}
-	log.Info("Got interrupt, shutting down...")
-	go nodeManager.node.Stop() // nolint: errcheck
-	for i := 3; i > 0; i-- {
-		<-sigc
-		if i > 1 {
-			log.Info(fmt.Sprintf("Already shutting down, interrupt %d more times for panic.", i-1))
-		}
-	}
-	panic("interrupted!")
-}
diff --git a/geth/params/config.go b/geth/params/config.go
index f73509db1..927c8b911 100644
--- a/geth/params/config.go
+++ b/geth/params/config.go
@@ -230,6 +230,9 @@ type NodeConfig struct {
 	// remote peer identification as well as network traffic encryption.
 	NodeKeyFile string
 
+	// Discovery set to true will enabled discovery protocol.
+	Discovery bool
+
 	// ListenAddr is an IP address and port of this node (e.g. 127.0.0.1:30303).
 	ListenAddr string