diff --git a/p2p/src/peers.rs b/p2p/src/peers.rs
index b4b931b57..7953428cd 100644
--- a/p2p/src/peers.rs
+++ b/p2p/src/peers.rs
@@ -37,16 +37,18 @@ pub struct Peers {
 	store: PeerStore,
 	peers: RwLock<HashMap<SocketAddr, Arc<RwLock<Peer>>>>,
 	dandelion_relay: RwLock<HashMap<i64, Arc<RwLock<Peer>>>>,
+	config: P2PConfig,
 }
 
 unsafe impl Send for Peers {}
 unsafe impl Sync for Peers {}
 
 impl Peers {
-	pub fn new(store: PeerStore, adapter: Arc<ChainAdapter>, _config: P2PConfig) -> Peers {
+	pub fn new(store: PeerStore, adapter: Arc<ChainAdapter>, config: P2PConfig) -> Peers {
 		Peers {
 			adapter,
 			store,
+			config,
 			peers: RwLock::new(HashMap::new()),
 			dandelion_relay: RwLock::new(HashMap::new()),
 		}
@@ -500,6 +502,10 @@ impl Peers {
 			peer.stop();
 		}
 	}
+
+	pub fn enough_peers(&self) -> bool {
+		self.connected_peers().len() >= self.config.peer_min_preferred_count() as usize
+	}
 }
 
 impl ChainAdapter for Peers {
diff --git a/servers/src/grin/sync.rs b/servers/src/grin/sync.rs
index 971a2e6da..68e23c499 100644
--- a/servers/src/grin/sync.rs
+++ b/servers/src/grin/sync.rs
@@ -80,9 +80,24 @@ pub fn run_sync(
 					// short period of time for tests to do the right thing.
 					let wait_secs = if skip_sync_wait { 3 } else { 30 };
 
+					let head = chain.head().unwrap();
+
 					awaiting_peers.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
 					let mut n = 0;
-					while peers.more_work_peers().len() < 4 && n < wait_secs {
+					const MIN_PEERS: usize = 3;
+					loop {
+						let wp = peers.more_work_peers();
+						// exit loop when:
+						// * we have more than MIN_PEERS more_work peers
+						// * we are synced already, e.g. grin was quickly restarted
+						// * timeout
+						if wp.len() > MIN_PEERS
+							|| (wp.len() == 0
+								&& peers.enough_peers()
+								&& head.total_difficulty > Difficulty::zero()) || n > wait_secs
+						{
+							break;
+						}
 						thread::sleep(time::Duration::from_secs(1));
 						n += 1;
 					}