diff --git a/src/core/runtime/libp2p-browser.js b/src/core/runtime/libp2p-browser.js
index 1a28fbad5d..6213964ab2 100644
--- a/src/core/runtime/libp2p-browser.js
+++ b/src/core/runtime/libp2p-browser.js
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ class Node extends libp2p {
   constructor (peerInfo, peerBook, options) {
     options = options || {}
     const wrtcstar = new WebRTCStar()
-    const wsstar = new WebSocketStar({id: peerInfo.id})
+    const wsstar = new WebSocketStar({
+      id: peerInfo.id,
+      allowJoinWithDisabledChallenge: true
+    })
 
     const modules = {
       transport: [new WS(), wrtcstar, wsstar],
diff --git a/src/core/runtime/libp2p-nodejs.js b/src/core/runtime/libp2p-nodejs.js
index 0ada60e15b..f7dc982e65 100644
--- a/src/core/runtime/libp2p-nodejs.js
+++ b/src/core/runtime/libp2p-nodejs.js
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@ const libp2p = require('libp2p')
 class Node extends libp2p {
   constructor (peerInfo, peerBook, options) {
     options = options || {}
-    const wsstar = new WebSocketStar({id: peerInfo.id})
+    const wsstar = new WebSocketStar({
+      id: peerInfo.id,
+      allowJoinWithDisabledChallenge: true
+    })
 
     const modules = {
       transport: [new TCP(), new WS(), wsstar],