diff --git a/beacon-chain/p2p/discovery_test.go b/beacon-chain/p2p/discovery_test.go
index f4f5fd7be5a..7482b67b588 100644
--- a/beacon-chain/p2p/discovery_test.go
+++ b/beacon-chain/p2p/discovery_test.go
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func TestMultiAddrConversion_OK(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestStaticPeering_PeersAreAdded(t *testing.T) {
-	cfg := &Config{Encoding: "ssz"}
+	cfg := &Config{Encoding: "ssz", MaxPeers: 30}
 	port := 3000
 	var staticPeers []string
 	var hosts []host.Host
diff --git a/beacon-chain/p2p/service.go b/beacon-chain/p2p/service.go
index 2d268cc3a65..9e85c20b834 100644
--- a/beacon-chain/p2p/service.go
+++ b/beacon-chain/p2p/service.go
@@ -26,11 +26,13 @@ import (
 	"github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm/beacon-chain/p2p/peers"
 	"github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm/shared"
 	"github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm/shared/runutil"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 var _ = shared.Service(&Service{})
 
-var pollingPeriod = 1 * time.Second
+// Check local table every 5 seconds for newly added peers.
+var pollingPeriod = 5 * time.Second
 
 const prysmProtocolPrefix = "/prysm/0.0.0"
 
@@ -158,7 +160,7 @@ func (s *Service) Start() {
 			s.startupErr = err
 			return
 		}
-		err = s.addBootNodesToExclusionList()
+		err = s.connectToBootnodes()
 		if err != nil {
 			log.WithError(err).Error("Could not add bootnode to the exclusion list")
 			s.startupErr = err
@@ -293,12 +295,8 @@ func (s *Service) Peers() *peers.Status {
 
 // listen for new nodes watches for new nodes in the network and adds them to the peerstore.
 func (s *Service) listenForNewNodes() {
-	bootNode, err := enode.Parse(enode.ValidSchemes, s.cfg.Discv5BootStrapAddr[0])
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
 	runutil.RunEvery(s.ctx, pollingPeriod, func() {
-		nodes := s.dv5Listener.Lookup(bootNode.ID())
+		nodes := s.dv5Listener.LookupRandom()
 		multiAddresses := convertToMultiAddr(nodes)
 		s.connectWithAllPeers(multiAddresses)
 	})
@@ -313,6 +311,11 @@ func (s *Service) connectWithAllPeers(multiAddrs []ma.Multiaddr) {
 	for _, info := range addrInfos {
 		// make each dial non-blocking
 		go func(info peer.AddrInfo) {
+			if len(s.Peers().Active()) >= int(s.cfg.MaxPeers) {
+				log.WithFields(logrus.Fields{"peer": info.ID.String(),
+					"reason": "at peer limit"}).Trace("Not dialing peer")
+				return
+			}
 			if info.ID == s.host.ID() {
 				return
 			}
@@ -327,24 +330,17 @@ func (s *Service) connectWithAllPeers(multiAddrs []ma.Multiaddr) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (s *Service) addBootNodesToExclusionList() error {
+func (s *Service) connectToBootnodes() error {
+	nodes := make([]*enode.Node, 0, len(s.cfg.Discv5BootStrapAddr))
 	for _, addr := range s.cfg.Discv5BootStrapAddr {
 		bootNode, err := enode.Parse(enode.ValidSchemes, addr)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		multAddr, err := convertToSingleMultiAddr(bootNode)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		addrInfo, err := peer.AddrInfoFromP2pAddr(multAddr)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		// bootnode is never dialled, so ttl is tentatively 1 year
-		s.exclusionList.Set(addrInfo.ID.String(), true, 1)
+		nodes = append(nodes, bootNode)
 	}
-
+	multiAddresses := convertToMultiAddr(nodes)
+	s.connectWithAllPeers(multiAddresses)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/beacon-chain/p2p/service_test.go b/beacon-chain/p2p/service_test.go
index c8071d3bb26..ec96b55a976 100644
--- a/beacon-chain/p2p/service_test.go
+++ b/beacon-chain/p2p/service_test.go
@@ -130,12 +130,20 @@ func TestListenForNewNodes(t *testing.T) {
 	bootListener := createListener(ipAddr, pkey, cfg)
 	defer bootListener.Close()
 
+	// Use shorter period for testing.
+	currentPeriod := pollingPeriod
+	pollingPeriod = 1 * time.Second
+	defer func() {
+		pollingPeriod = currentPeriod
+	}()
+
 	bootNode := bootListener.Self()
 
 	cfg = &Config{
 		BootstrapNodeAddr:   []string{bootNode.String()},
 		Discv5BootStrapAddr: []string{bootNode.String()},
 		Encoding:            "ssz",
+		MaxPeers:            30,
 	}
 	var listeners []*discover.UDPv5
 	var hosts []host.Host