diff --git a/eclair-core/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/eclair-core/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index ecf7ae8452..2b55c576fa 100644
--- a/eclair-core/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/eclair-core/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ eclair {
     //  - ignore: eclair will leave these utxos locked and start
     startup-locked-utxos-behavior = "stop"
     final-pubkey-refresh-delay = 3 seconds
+    // If true, eclair will poll bitcoind for 30 seconds at start-up before giving up.
+    wait-for-bitcoind-up = true
   }
 
   node-alias = "eclair"
diff --git a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala
index f5ef2b3253..8b5b19e473 100644
--- a/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala
+++ b/eclair-core/src/main/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/Setup.scala
@@ -171,7 +171,9 @@ class Setup(val datadir: File,
         case Success(status) => Future.successful(status)
         case Failure(e) =>
           logger.warn(s"failed to connect to bitcoind (${e.getMessage}), retrying...")
-          after(5 seconds) { pollBitcoinStatus(bitcoinClient) }
+          after(5 seconds) {
+            pollBitcoinStatus(bitcoinClient)
+          }
       }
     }
 
@@ -181,18 +183,22 @@ class Setup(val datadir: File,
       port = config.getInt("bitcoind.rpcport"),
       wallet = wallet
     )
-    val BitcoinStatus(bitcoinVersion, chainHash, initialBlockDownload, progress, blocks, headers, unspentAddresses) = await(pollBitcoinStatus(bitcoinClient), 30 seconds, "bitcoind did not respond after 30 seconds")
-    logger.info(s"bitcoind version=$bitcoinVersion")
-    assert(bitcoinVersion >= 230000, "Eclair requires Bitcoin Core 23.0 or higher")
-    assert(unspentAddresses.forall(address => !isPay2PubkeyHash(address)), "Your wallet contains non-segwit UTXOs. You must send those UTXOs to a bech32 address to use Eclair (check out our README for more details).")
-    if (chainHash != Block.RegtestGenesisBlock.hash) {
-      assert(!initialBlockDownload, s"bitcoind should be synchronized (initialblockdownload=$initialBlockDownload)")
-      assert(progress > 0.999, s"bitcoind should be synchronized (progress=$progress)")
-      assert(headers - blocks <= 1, s"bitcoind should be synchronized (headers=$headers blocks=$blocks)")
+    val bitcoinStatus = if (config.getBoolean("bitcoind.wait-for-bitcoind-up")) {
+      await(pollBitcoinStatus(bitcoinClient), 30 seconds, "bitcoind wasn't ready after 30 seconds")
+    } else {
+      await(getBitcoinStatus(bitcoinClient), 30 seconds, "bitcoind did not respond after 30 seconds")
+    }
+    logger.info(s"bitcoind version=${bitcoinStatus.version}")
+    assert(bitcoinStatus.version >= 230000, "Eclair requires Bitcoin Core 23.0 or higher")
+    assert(bitcoinStatus.unspentAddresses.forall(address => !isPay2PubkeyHash(address)), "Your wallet contains non-segwit UTXOs. You must send those UTXOs to a bech32 address to use Eclair (check out our README for more details).")
+    if (bitcoinStatus.chainHash != Block.RegtestGenesisBlock.hash) {
+      assert(!bitcoinStatus.initialBlockDownload, s"bitcoind should be synchronized (initialblockdownload=${bitcoinStatus.initialBlockDownload})")
+      assert(bitcoinStatus.verificationProgress > 0.999, s"bitcoind should be synchronized (progress=${bitcoinStatus.verificationProgress})")
+      assert(bitcoinStatus.headerCount - bitcoinStatus.blockCount <= 1, s"bitcoind should be synchronized (headers=${bitcoinStatus.headerCount} blocks=${bitcoinStatus.blockCount})")
     }
-    logger.info(s"current blockchain height=$blocks")
-    blockHeight.set(blocks)
-    (bitcoinClient, chainHash)
+    logger.info(s"current blockchain height=${bitcoinStatus.blockCount}")
+    blockHeight.set(bitcoinStatus.blockCount)
+    (bitcoinClient, bitcoinStatus.chainHash)
   }
 
   val instanceId = UUID.randomUUID()
diff --git a/eclair-core/src/test/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/integration/StartupIntegrationSpec.scala b/eclair-core/src/test/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/integration/StartupIntegrationSpec.scala
index 2d13c8b4c5..ed912203e2 100644
--- a/eclair-core/src/test/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/integration/StartupIntegrationSpec.scala
+++ b/eclair-core/src/test/scala/fr/acinq/eclair/integration/StartupIntegrationSpec.scala
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 package fr.acinq.eclair.integration
 
 import akka.testkit.TestProbe
-import com.typesafe.config.ConfigFactory
+import com.typesafe.config.{Config, ConfigFactory}
 import fr.acinq.eclair.blockchain.bitcoind.BitcoindService.BitcoinReq
 import fr.acinq.eclair.blockchain.bitcoind.rpc.{Error, JsonRPCError}
 import fr.acinq.eclair.{BitcoinDefaultWalletException, BitcoinWalletDisabledException, BitcoinWalletNotLoadedException, TestUtils}
@@ -30,41 +30,49 @@ import scala.jdk.CollectionConverters._
 
 class StartupIntegrationSpec extends IntegrationSpec {
 
+  private def createConfig(wallet_opt: Option[String]): Config = {
+    val defaultConfig = ConfigFactory.parseMap(Map("eclair.bitcoind.wait-for-bitcoind-up" -> "false", "eclair.server.port" -> TestUtils.availablePort).asJava).withFallback(withDefaultCommitment).withFallback(commonConfig)
+    wallet_opt match {
+      case Some(wallet) => ConfigFactory.parseMap(Map("eclair.bitcoind.wallet" -> wallet).asJava).withFallback(defaultConfig)
+      case None => defaultConfig
+    }
+  }
+
   test("no bitcoind wallet configured and one wallet loaded") {
-    instantiateEclairNode("A", ConfigFactory.parseMap(Map("eclair.bitcoind.wallet" -> "", "eclair.server.port" -> TestUtils.availablePort).asJava).withFallback(withDefaultCommitment).withFallback(commonConfig))
+    instantiateEclairNode("A", createConfig(wallet_opt = Some("")))
   }
 
   test("no bitcoind wallet configured and two wallets loaded") {
     val sender = TestProbe()
-    sender.send(bitcoincli, BitcoinReq("createwallet", ""))
+    sender.send(bitcoincli, BitcoinReq("createwallet", "other_wallet"))
     sender.expectMsgType[Any]
     val thrown = intercept[BitcoinDefaultWalletException] {
-      instantiateEclairNode("C", ConfigFactory.parseMap(Map("eclair.bitcoind.wallet" -> "", "eclair.server.port" -> TestUtils.availablePort).asJava).withFallback(withDefaultCommitment).withFallback(commonConfig))
+      instantiateEclairNode("C", createConfig(wallet_opt = Some("")))
     }
-    assert(thrown == BitcoinDefaultWalletException(List(defaultWallet, "")))
+    assert(thrown == BitcoinDefaultWalletException(List(defaultWallet, "other_wallet")))
   }
 
   test("explicit bitcoind wallet configured and two wallets loaded") {
     val sender = TestProbe()
-    sender.send(bitcoincli, BitcoinReq("createwallet", ""))
+    sender.send(bitcoincli, BitcoinReq("createwallet", "other_wallet"))
     sender.expectMsgType[Any]
-    instantiateEclairNode("D", ConfigFactory.parseMap(Map("eclair.server.port" -> TestUtils.availablePort).asJava).withFallback(withDefaultCommitment).withFallback(commonConfig))
+    instantiateEclairNode("D", createConfig(wallet_opt = Some(defaultWallet)))
   }
 
   test("explicit bitcoind wallet configured but not loaded") {
     val sender = TestProbe()
-    sender.send(bitcoincli, BitcoinReq("createwallet", ""))
+    sender.send(bitcoincli, BitcoinReq("createwallet", "other_wallet"))
     sender.expectMsgType[Any]
     val thrown = intercept[BitcoinWalletNotLoadedException] {
-      instantiateEclairNode("E", ConfigFactory.parseMap(Map("eclair.bitcoind.wallet" -> "notloaded", "eclair.server.port" -> TestUtils.availablePort).asJava).withFallback(withDefaultCommitment).withFallback(commonConfig))
+      instantiateEclairNode("E", createConfig(wallet_opt = Some("not_loaded")))
     }
-    assert(thrown == BitcoinWalletNotLoadedException("notloaded", List(defaultWallet, "")))
+    assert(thrown == BitcoinWalletNotLoadedException("not_loaded", List(defaultWallet, "other_wallet")))
   }
 
   test("bitcoind started with wallets disabled") {
     restartBitcoind(startupFlags = "-disablewallet", loadWallet = false)
     val thrown = intercept[BitcoinWalletDisabledException] {
-      instantiateEclairNode("F", ConfigFactory.load().getConfig("eclair").withFallback(withDefaultCommitment).withFallback(commonConfig))
+      instantiateEclairNode("F", createConfig(wallet_opt = Some("")))
     }
     assert(thrown == BitcoinWalletDisabledException(e = JsonRPCError(Error(-32601, "Method not found"))))
   }