diff --git a/cmd/bootnode/main.go b/cmd/bootnode/main.go
index 346523ddb6c2..32f7d63bea10 100644
--- a/cmd/bootnode/main.go
+++ b/cmd/bootnode/main.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func main() {
 	var (
 		listenAddr  = flag.String("addr", ":30301", "listen address")
 		genKey      = flag.String("genkey", "", "generate a node key")
-		writeAddr   = flag.Bool("writeaddress", false, "write out the node's pubkey hash and quit")
+		writeAddr   = flag.Bool("writeaddress", false, "write out the node's public key and quit")
 		nodeKeyFile = flag.String("nodekey", "", "private key filename")
 		nodeKeyHex  = flag.String("nodekeyhex", "", "private key as hex (for testing)")
 		natdesc     = flag.String("nat", "none", "port mapping mechanism (any|none|upnp|pmp|extip:<IP>)")
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	if *writeAddr {
-		fmt.Printf("%v\n", enode.PubkeyToIDV4(&nodeKey.PublicKey))
+		fmt.Printf("%x\n", crypto.FromECDSAPub(&nodeKey.PublicKey)[1:])
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}