diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index b28ce0b8a..9bfdb9bc2 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -1497,12 +1497,19 @@ static std::string GetDNSHost(const CDNSSeedData& data, ServiceFlags* requiredSe
 void ThreadDNSAddressSeed()
 {
     // goal: only query DNS seeds if address need is acute
+    // Avoiding DNS seeds when we don't need them improves user privacy by
+    //  creating fewer identifying DNS requests, reduces trust by giving seeds
+    //  less influence on the network topology, and reduces traffic to the seeds.
     if ((addrman.size() > 0) &&
         (!GetBoolArg("-forcednsseed", DEFAULT_FORCEDNSSEED))) {
         MilliSleep(11 * 1000);
 
         LOCK(cs_vNodes);
-        if (vNodes.size() >= 2) {
+        int nRelevant = 0;
+        for (auto pnode : vNodes) {
+            nRelevant += pnode->fSuccessfullyConnected && ((pnode->nServices & nRelevantServices) == nRelevantServices);
+        }
+        if (nRelevant >= 2) {
             LogPrintf("P2P peers available. Skipped DNS seeding.\n");
             return;
         }