diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index 4e916a9..1fcd9ed 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -408,7 +408,11 @@ func (n *Node) initAPIServer() error {
 		err := n.APIServer.Dispatch()
 
 		n.Log.Fatal("API server initialization failed with %s", err)
-		n.Net.Close()
+		if n.Net != nil {
+			if err := n.Net.Close(); err != nil {
+				n.Log.Error("error closing network: %s", err)
+			}
+		}
 	})
 	return nil
 }
@@ -563,10 +567,6 @@ func (n *Node) Initialize(Config *Config, logger logging.Logger, logFactory logg
 
 	n.initBeacons()
 
-	if err = n.initNetworking(); err != nil { // Set up P2P networking
-		return fmt.Errorf("problem initializing networking: %w", err)
-	}
-
 	// Start HTTP APIs
 	if err := n.initAPIServer(); err != nil { // Start the API Server
 		return fmt.Errorf("couldn't initialize API server: %w", err)
@@ -577,6 +577,10 @@ func (n *Node) Initialize(Config *Config, logger logging.Logger, logFactory logg
 	// initialize shared memory
 	n.initSharedMemory()
 
+	if err = n.initNetworking(); err != nil { // Set up all networking
+		return fmt.Errorf("problem initializing networking: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	if err := n.initVMManager(); err != nil { // Set up the vm manager
 		return fmt.Errorf("problem initializing the VM manager: %w", err)
 	}