diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index 9df891f78..1f8822976 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -337,10 +337,10 @@ var (
 		Usage: "Network listening port",
 		Value: 30303,
 	}
-	BootnodesFlag = cli.StringFlag{
+	BootnodesFlag = cli.StringSliceFlag{
 		Name:  "bootnodes",
 		Usage: "Comma separated enode URLs for P2P discovery bootstrap",
-		Value: "",
+		Value: nil,
 	}
 	NodeKeyFileFlag = cli.StringFlag{
 		Name:  "nodekey",
@@ -485,17 +485,15 @@ func makeNodeUserIdent(ctx *cli.Context) string {
 // MakeBootstrapNodes creates a list of bootstrap nodes from the command line
 // flags, reverting to pre-configured ones if none have been specified.
 func MakeBootstrapNodes(ctx *cli.Context) []*discover.Node {
-	// Return pre-configured nodes if none were manually requested
-	if !ctx.GlobalIsSet(BootnodesFlag.Name) {
-		if ctx.GlobalBool(TestNetFlag.Name) {
-			return params.TestnetBootnodes
-		}
-		return params.MainnetBootnodes
+	urls := params.MainnetBootnodes
+	if ctx.GlobalIsSet(BootnodesFlag.Name) {
+		urls = ctx.GlobalStringSlice(BootnodesFlag.Name)
+	} else if ctx.GlobalBool(TestNetFlag.Name) {
+		urls = params.TestnetBootnodes
 	}
-	// Otherwise parse and use the CLI bootstrap nodes
-	bootnodes := []*discover.Node{}
 
-	for _, url := range strings.Split(ctx.GlobalString(BootnodesFlag.Name), ",") {
+	bootnodes := make([]*discover.Node, 0, len(urls))
+	for _, url := range urls {
 		node, err := discover.ParseNode(url)
 		if err != nil {
 			glog.V(logger.Error).Infof("Bootstrap URL %s: %v\n", url, err)
@@ -509,14 +507,13 @@ func MakeBootstrapNodes(ctx *cli.Context) []*discover.Node {
 // MakeBootstrapNodesV5 creates a list of bootstrap nodes from the command line
 // flags, reverting to pre-configured ones if none have been specified.
 func MakeBootstrapNodesV5(ctx *cli.Context) []*discv5.Node {
-	// Return pre-configured nodes if none were manually requested
-	if !ctx.GlobalIsSet(BootnodesFlag.Name) {
-		return params.DiscoveryV5Bootnodes
+	urls := params.DiscoveryV5Bootnodes
+	if ctx.GlobalIsSet(BootnodesFlag.Name) {
+		urls = ctx.GlobalStringSlice(BootnodesFlag.Name)
 	}
-	// Otherwise parse and use the CLI bootstrap nodes
-	bootnodes := []*discv5.Node{}
 
-	for _, url := range strings.Split(ctx.GlobalString(BootnodesFlag.Name), ",") {
+	bootnodes := make([]*discv5.Node, 0, len(urls))
+	for _, url := range urls {
 		node, err := discv5.ParseNode(url)
 		if err != nil {
 			glog.V(logger.Error).Infof("Bootstrap URL %s: %v\n", url, err)
diff --git a/mobile/params.go b/mobile/params.go
index 8d5d3edbe..87747c7b0 100644
--- a/mobile/params.go
+++ b/mobile/params.go
@@ -85,8 +85,8 @@ func NewChainConfig() *ChainConfig {
 // by the foundation running the V5 discovery protocol.
 func FoundationBootnodes() *Enodes {
 	nodes := &Enodes{nodes: make([]*discv5.Node, len(params.DiscoveryV5Bootnodes))}
-	for i, node := range params.DiscoveryV5Bootnodes {
-		nodes.nodes[i] = node
+	for i, url := range params.DiscoveryV5Bootnodes {
+		nodes.nodes[i] = discv5.MustParseNode(url)
 	}
 	return nodes
 }
diff --git a/params/bootnodes.go b/params/bootnodes.go
index 830b309d6..13414cb95 100644
--- a/params/bootnodes.go
+++ b/params/bootnodes.go
@@ -16,37 +16,30 @@
 
 package params
 
-import (
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/discover"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/discv5"
-)
-
 // MainnetBootnodes are the enode URLs of the P2P bootstrap nodes running on
 // the main Ethereum network.
-var MainnetBootnodes = []*discover.Node{
+var MainnetBootnodes = []string{
 	// ETH/DEV Go Bootnodes
-	discover.MustParseNode("enode://a979fb575495b8d6db44f750317d0f4622bf4c2aa3365d6af7c284339968eef29b69ad0dce72a4d8db5ebb4968de0e3bec910127f134779fbcb0cb6d3331163c@52.16.188.185:30303"), // IE
-	discover.MustParseNode("enode://de471bccee3d042261d52e9bff31458daecc406142b401d4cd848f677479f73104b9fdeb090af9583d3391b7f10cb2ba9e26865dd5fca4fcdc0fb1e3b723c786@54.94.239.50:30303"),  // BR
-	discover.MustParseNode("enode://1118980bf48b0a3640bdba04e0fe78b1add18e1cd99bf22d53daac1fd9972ad650df52176e7c7d89d1114cfef2bc23a2959aa54998a46afcf7d91809f0855082@52.74.57.123:30303"),  // SG
+	"enode://a979fb575495b8d6db44f750317d0f4622bf4c2aa3365d6af7c284339968eef29b69ad0dce72a4d8db5ebb4968de0e3bec910127f134779fbcb0cb6d3331163c@52.16.188.185:30303", // IE
+	"enode://de471bccee3d042261d52e9bff31458daecc406142b401d4cd848f677479f73104b9fdeb090af9583d3391b7f10cb2ba9e26865dd5fca4fcdc0fb1e3b723c786@54.94.239.50:30303",  // BR
+	"enode://1118980bf48b0a3640bdba04e0fe78b1add18e1cd99bf22d53daac1fd9972ad650df52176e7c7d89d1114cfef2bc23a2959aa54998a46afcf7d91809f0855082@52.74.57.123:30303",  // SG
 
 	// ETH/DEV Cpp Bootnodes
-	discover.MustParseNode("enode://979b7fa28feeb35a4741660a16076f1943202cb72b6af70d327f053e248bab9ba81760f39d0701ef1d8f89cc1fbd2cacba0710a12cd5314d5e0c9021aa3637f9@5.1.83.226:30303"),
+	"enode://979b7fa28feeb35a4741660a16076f1943202cb72b6af70d327f053e248bab9ba81760f39d0701ef1d8f89cc1fbd2cacba0710a12cd5314d5e0c9021aa3637f9@5.1.83.226:30303",
 }
 
 // TestnetBootnodes are the enode URLs of the P2P bootstrap nodes running on the
 // Morden test network.
-var TestnetBootnodes = []*discover.Node{
+var TestnetBootnodes = []string{
 	// ETH/DEV Go Bootnodes
-	discover.MustParseNode("enode://e4533109cc9bd7604e4ff6c095f7a1d807e15b38e9bfeb05d3b7c423ba86af0a9e89abbf40bd9dde4250fef114cd09270fa4e224cbeef8b7bf05a51e8260d6b8@94.242.229.4:40404"),
-	discover.MustParseNode("enode://8c336ee6f03e99613ad21274f269479bf4413fb294d697ef15ab897598afb931f56beb8e97af530aee20ce2bcba5776f4a312bc168545de4d43736992c814592@94.242.229.203:30303"),
-
-	// ETH/DEV Cpp Bootnodes
+	"enode://e4533109cc9bd7604e4ff6c095f7a1d807e15b38e9bfeb05d3b7c423ba86af0a9e89abbf40bd9dde4250fef114cd09270fa4e224cbeef8b7bf05a51e8260d6b8@94.242.229.4:40404",
+	"enode://8c336ee6f03e99613ad21274f269479bf4413fb294d697ef15ab897598afb931f56beb8e97af530aee20ce2bcba5776f4a312bc168545de4d43736992c814592@94.242.229.203:30303",
 }
 
 // DiscoveryV5Bootnodes are the enode URLs of the P2P bootstrap nodes for the
 // experimental RLPx v5 topic-discovery network.
-var DiscoveryV5Bootnodes = []*discv5.Node{
-	discv5.MustParseNode("enode://0cc5f5ffb5d9098c8b8c62325f3797f56509bff942704687b6530992ac706e2cb946b90a34f1f19548cd3c7baccbcaea354531e5983c7d1bc0dee16ce4b6440b@40.118.3.223:30305"),
-	discv5.MustParseNode("enode://1c7a64d76c0334b0418c004af2f67c50e36a3be60b5e4790bdac0439d21603469a85fad36f2473c9a80eb043ae60936df905fa28f1ff614c3e5dc34f15dcd2dc@40.118.3.223:30308"),
-	discv5.MustParseNode("enode://85c85d7143ae8bb96924f2b54f1b3e70d8c4d367af305325d30a61385a432f247d2c75c45c6b4a60335060d072d7f5b35dd1d4c45f76941f62a4f83b6e75daaf@40.118.3.223:30309"),
+var DiscoveryV5Bootnodes = []string{
+	"enode://0cc5f5ffb5d9098c8b8c62325f3797f56509bff942704687b6530992ac706e2cb946b90a34f1f19548cd3c7baccbcaea354531e5983c7d1bc0dee16ce4b6440b@40.118.3.223:30305",
+	"enode://1c7a64d76c0334b0418c004af2f67c50e36a3be60b5e4790bdac0439d21603469a85fad36f2473c9a80eb043ae60936df905fa28f1ff614c3e5dc34f15dcd2dc@40.118.3.223:30308",
+	"enode://85c85d7143ae8bb96924f2b54f1b3e70d8c4d367af305325d30a61385a432f247d2c75c45c6b4a60335060d072d7f5b35dd1d4c45f76941f62a4f83b6e75daaf@40.118.3.223:30309",
 }