diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index 18fe95e675..4eb26b095e 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ static constexpr int DUMP_PEERS_INTERVAL = 15 * 60;
 /** Number of DNS seeds to query when the number of connections is low. */
 static constexpr int DNSSEEDS_TO_QUERY_AT_ONCE = 3;
 
+/** How long to delay before querying DNS seeds
+ */
+static constexpr std::chrono::seconds DNSSEEDS_DELAY_FEW_PEERS{11}; // 11sec
+static constexpr std::chrono::seconds DNSSEEDS_DELAY_MANY_PEERS{300}; // 5min
+static constexpr int DNSSEEDS_DELAY_PEER_THRESHOLD = 1000; // "many" vs "few" peers -- you should only get this many if you've been on the live network
+
 // We add a random period time (0 to 1 seconds) to feeler connections to prevent synchronization.
 #define FEELER_SLEEP_WINDOW 1
 
@@ -1573,31 +1579,61 @@ void CConnman::ThreadDNSAddressSeed()
     if (gArgs.GetBoolArg("-forcednsseed", DEFAULT_FORCEDNSSEED)) {
         // When -forcednsseed is provided, query all.
         seeds_right_now = seeds.size();
+    } else if (addrman.size() == 0) {
+        // If we have no known peers, query all.
+        seeds_right_now = seeds.size();
     }
 
-    for (const std::string& seed : seeds) {
-        // goal: only query DNS seed 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 && seeds_right_now == 0) {
-            if (!interruptNet.sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(11))) return;
+    // goal: only query DNS seed if address need is acute
+    // * If we have a reasonable number of peers in addrman, spend
+    //   some time trying them first. This 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.
+    // * When querying DNS seeds query a few at once, this ensures
+    //   that we don't give DNS seeds the ability to eclipse nodes
+    //   that query them.
+    // * If we continue having problems, eventually query all the
+    //   DNS seeds, and if that fails too, also try the fixed seeds.
+    //   (done in ThreadOpenConnections)
+    const std::chrono::seconds seeds_wait_time = (addrman.size() >= DNSSEEDS_DELAY_PEER_THRESHOLD ? DNSSEEDS_DELAY_MANY_PEERS : DNSSEEDS_DELAY_FEW_PEERS);
 
-            LOCK(cs_vNodes);
-            int nRelevant = 0;
-            for (const CNode* pnode : vNodes) {
-                nRelevant += pnode->fSuccessfullyConnected && !pnode->fFeeler && !pnode->fOneShot && !pnode->m_manual_connection && !pnode->fInbound;
-            }
-            if (nRelevant >= 2) {
-                LogPrintf("P2P peers available. Skipped DNS seeding.\n");
-                return;
-            }
+    for (const std::string& seed : seeds) {
+        if (seeds_right_now == 0) {
             seeds_right_now += DNSSEEDS_TO_QUERY_AT_ONCE;
+
+            if (addrman.size() > 0) {
+                LogPrintf("Waiting %d seconds before querying DNS seeds.\n", seeds_wait_time.count());
+                std::chrono::seconds to_wait = seeds_wait_time;
+                while (to_wait.count() > 0) {
+                    std::chrono::seconds w = std::min(DNSSEEDS_DELAY_FEW_PEERS, to_wait);
+                    if (!interruptNet.sleep_for(w)) return;
+                    to_wait -= w;
+
+                    int nRelevant = 0;
+                    {
+                        LOCK(cs_vNodes);
+                        for (const CNode* pnode : vNodes) {
+                            nRelevant += pnode->fSuccessfullyConnected && !pnode->fFeeler && !pnode->fOneShot && !pnode->m_manual_connection && !pnode->fInbound;
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if (nRelevant >= 2) {
+                        if (found > 0) {
+                            LogPrintf("%d addresses found from DNS seeds\n", found);
+                            LogPrintf("P2P peers available. Finished DNS seeding.\n");
+                        } else {
+                            LogPrintf("P2P peers available. Skipped DNS seeding.\n");
+                        }
+                        return;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         if (interruptNet) {
             return;
         }
+
         LogPrintf("Loading addresses from DNS seed %s\n", seed);
         if (HaveNameProxy()) {
             AddOneShot(seed);