diff --git a/crates/subspace-node/src/bin/subspace-node.rs b/crates/subspace-node/src/bin/subspace-node.rs
index 965180a989..3f222eef32 100644
--- a/crates/subspace-node/src/bin/subspace-node.rs
+++ b/crates/subspace-node/src/bin/subspace-node.rs
@@ -462,8 +462,7 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Error> {
                         force_new_slot_notifications: !cli.domain_args.is_empty(),
                         subspace_networking: SubspaceNetworking::Create { config: dsn_config },
                         sync_from_dsn: cli.sync_from_dsn,
-                        enable_subspace_block_relay: cli.enable_subspace_block_relay
-                            || cli.run.is_dev().unwrap_or(false),
+                        enable_subspace_block_relay: cli.enable_subspace_block_relay,
                         #[cfg(feature = "pot")]
                         pot_source_config,
                     };
diff --git a/crates/subspace-node/src/lib.rs b/crates/subspace-node/src/lib.rs
index 58a264d444..309e484123 100644
--- a/crates/subspace-node/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/subspace-node/src/lib.rs
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ pub struct Cli {
 
     /// Use the block request handler implementation from subspace
     /// instead of the default substrate handler.
-    #[arg(long)]
+    #[arg(long, default_value_t = true, action = clap::ArgAction::Set)]
     pub enable_subspace_block_relay: bool,
 
     /// Assigned PoT role for this node.