diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index e2f25eda7..84b0108ea 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -359,13 +359,13 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-banscore=<n>", strprintf(_("Threshold for disconnecting misbehaving peers (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_BANSCORE_THRESHOLD));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-bantime=<n>", strprintf(_("Number of seconds to keep misbehaving peers from reconnecting (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_MISBEHAVING_BANTIME));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-bind=<addr>", _("Bind to given address and always listen on it. Use [host]:port notation for IPv6"));
-    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-connect=<ip>", _("Connect only to the specified node(s)"));
+    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-connect=<ip>", _("Connect only to the specified node(s); -noconnect or -connect=0 alone to disable automatic connections"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-discover", _("Discover own IP addresses (default: 1 when listening and no -externalip or -proxy)"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-dns", _("Allow DNS lookups for -addnode, -seednode and -connect") + " " + strprintf(_("(default: %u)"), DEFAULT_NAME_LOOKUP));
-    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-dnsseed", _("Query for peer addresses via DNS lookup, if low on addresses (default: 1 unless -connect)"));
+    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-dnsseed", _("Query for peer addresses via DNS lookup, if low on addresses (default: 1 unless -connect/-noconnect)"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-externalip=<ip>", _("Specify your own public address"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-forcednsseed", strprintf(_("Always query for peer addresses via DNS lookup (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_FORCEDNSSEED));
-    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-listen", _("Accept connections from outside (default: 1 if no -proxy or -connect)"));
+    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-listen", _("Accept connections from outside (default: 1 if no -proxy or -connect/-noconnect)"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-listenonion", strprintf(_("Automatically create Tor hidden service (default: %d)"), DEFAULT_LISTEN_ONION));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-maxconnections=<n>", strprintf(_("Maintain at most <n> connections to peers (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_MAX_PEER_CONNECTIONS));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-maxreceivebuffer=<n>", strprintf(_("Maximum per-connection receive buffer, <n>*1000 bytes (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_MAXRECEIVEBUFFER));
diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index 1bca168d1..953377a9f 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -2138,8 +2138,9 @@ bool CConnman::Start(boost::thread_group& threadGroup, CScheduler& scheduler, st
     // Initiate outbound connections from -addnode
     threadGroup.create_thread(boost::bind(&TraceThread<boost::function<void()> >, "addcon", boost::function<void()>(boost::bind(&CConnman::ThreadOpenAddedConnections, this))));
 
-    // Initiate outbound connections
-    threadGroup.create_thread(boost::bind(&TraceThread<boost::function<void()> >, "opencon", boost::function<void()>(boost::bind(&CConnman::ThreadOpenConnections, this))));
+    // Initiate outbound connections unless connect=0
+    if (!mapArgs.count("-connect") || mapMultiArgs["-connect"].size() != 1 || mapMultiArgs["-connect"][0] != "0")
+        threadGroup.create_thread(boost::bind(&TraceThread<boost::function<void()> >, "opencon", boost::function<void()>(boost::bind(&CConnman::ThreadOpenConnections, this))));
 
     // Process messages
     threadGroup.create_thread(boost::bind(&TraceThread<boost::function<void()> >, "msghand", boost::function<void()>(boost::bind(&CConnman::ThreadMessageHandler, this))));