diff --git a/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go b/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go
index 33e1606b5..b7a018c0f 100644
--- a/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go
+++ b/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/main.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import (
 var (
 	instanceName = flag.String("name", "dendrite-p2p-ygg", "the name of this P2P demo instance")
 	instancePort = flag.Int("port", 8008, "the port that the client API will listen on")
+	instancePeer = flag.String("peer", "", "an internet Yggdrasil peer to connect to")
 )
 
 type yggroundtripper struct {
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ func main() {
 		},
 	}
 
-	ygg, err := yggconn.Setup(*instanceName)
+	ygg, err := yggconn.Setup(*instanceName, *instancePeer)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/yggconn/node.go b/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/yggconn/node.go
index 777b54f55..12acbea6d 100644
--- a/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/yggconn/node.go
+++ b/cmd/dendrite-demo-yggdrasil/yggconn/node.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ type Node struct {
 	incoming  chan *yamux.Stream
 }
 
-func Setup(instanceName string) (*Node, error) {
+func Setup(instanceName, instancePeer string) (*Node, error) {
 	n := &Node{
 		core:      &yggdrasil.Core{},
 		config:    yggdrasilconfig.GenerateConfig(),
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@ func Setup(instanceName string) (*Node, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
+	if instancePeer != "" {
+		if err = n.core.AddPeer(instancePeer, ""); err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+	}
 	if err = n.admin.Init(n.core, n.state, n.log, nil); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}