diff --git a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/dht_tracker.hpp b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/dht_tracker.hpp
index 7a98888c0..a35b281a1 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/dht_tracker.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/dht_tracker.hpp
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ namespace libtorrent { namespace dht
 		friend void intrusive_ptr_add_ref(dht_tracker const*);
 		friend void intrusive_ptr_release(dht_tracker const*);
 		dht_tracker(libtorrent::aux::session_impl& ses, rate_limited_udp_socket& sock
-			, dht_settings const& settings);
+			, dht_settings const& settings, entry const* state = 0);
 
 		void start(entry const& bootstrap);
 		void stop();
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/node.hpp b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/node.hpp
index ffbe4ddc7..06d98c325 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/node.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/node.hpp
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include <boost/iterator/transform_iterator.hpp>
 #include <boost/ref.hpp>
 #include <boost/thread/mutex.hpp>
+#include <boost/optional.hpp>
 
 #include "libtorrent/socket.hpp"
 
@@ -169,7 +170,7 @@ class node_impl : boost::noncopyable
 typedef std::map<node_id, torrent_entry> table_t;
 public:
 	node_impl(libtorrent::aux::session_impl& ses, boost::function<void(msg const&)> const& f
-		, dht_settings const& settings);
+		, dht_settings const& settings, boost::optional<node_id> nid);
 
 	virtual ~node_impl() {}
 
@@ -194,7 +195,6 @@ public:
 
 	typedef table_t::iterator data_iterator;
 
-	void set_node_id(node_id const& nid) { m_id = nid; }
 	node_id const& nid() const { return m_id; }
 
 	boost::tuple<int, int> size() const{ return m_table.size(); }
diff --git a/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp b/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp
index 617fc9cee..7cc69c010 100644
--- a/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp
+++ b/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp
@@ -128,11 +128,20 @@ namespace libtorrent { namespace dht
 	TORRENT_DEFINE_LOG(dht_tracker)
 #endif
 
+	boost::optional<node_id> extract_node_id(entry const* e)
+	{
+		if (e == 0 || e->type() != entry::dictionary_t) return boost::optional<node_id>();
+		entry const* nid = e->find_key("node-id");
+		if (nid == 0 || nid->type() != entry::string_t || nid->string().length() != 20)
+			return boost::optional<node_id>();
+		return boost::optional<node_id>(node_id(nid->string().c_str()));
+	}
+
 	// class that puts the networking and the kademlia node in a single
 	// unit and connecting them together.
 	dht_tracker::dht_tracker(libtorrent::aux::session_impl& ses, rate_limited_udp_socket& sock
-		, dht_settings const& settings)
-		: m_dht(ses, bind(&dht_tracker::send_packet, this, _1), settings)
+		, dht_settings const& settings, entry const* state)
+		: m_dht(ses, bind(&dht_tracker::send_packet, this, _1), settings, extract_node_id(state))
 		, m_ses(ses)
 		, m_sock(sock)
 		, m_last_new_key(time_now() - minutes(key_refresh))
@@ -189,12 +198,6 @@ namespace libtorrent { namespace dht
 			if (entry const* nodes = bootstrap.find_key("nodes"))
 				read_endpoint_list<udp::endpoint>(nodes, initial_nodes);
 			} catch (std::exception&) {}
-			
-			entry const* nid = bootstrap.find_key("node-id");
-			if (nid
-				&& nid->type() == entry::string_t
-				&& nid->string().length() == 40)
-				m_dht.set_node_id(boost::lexical_cast<node_id>(nid->string()));
 		}
 
 		error_code ec;
diff --git a/src/kademlia/node.cpp b/src/kademlia/node.cpp
index 2b41e1f94..a372901b3 100644
--- a/src/kademlia/node.cpp
+++ b/src/kademlia/node.cpp
@@ -94,9 +94,10 @@ void nop() {}
 
 node_impl::node_impl(libtorrent::aux::session_impl& ses
 	, boost::function<void(msg const&)> const& f
-	, dht_settings const& settings)
+	, dht_settings const& settings
+	, boost::optional<node_id> nid)
 	: m_settings(settings)
-	, m_id(generate_id())
+	, m_id(nid ? *nid : generate_id())
 	, m_table(m_id, 8, settings)
 	, m_rpc(bind(&node_impl::incoming_request, this, _1)
 		, m_id, m_table, f)
diff --git a/src/session_impl.cpp b/src/session_impl.cpp
index f19686168..a3616555b 100644
--- a/src/session_impl.cpp
+++ b/src/session_impl.cpp
@@ -2206,7 +2206,7 @@ namespace aux {
 				, m_dht_settings.service_port
 				, m_dht_settings.service_port);
 		}
-		m_dht = new dht::dht_tracker(*this, m_dht_socket, m_dht_settings);
+		m_dht = new dht::dht_tracker(*this, m_dht_socket, m_dht_settings, &startup_state);
 		if (!m_dht_socket.is_open() || m_dht_socket.local_port() != m_dht_settings.service_port)
 		{
 			m_dht_socket.bind(m_dht_settings.service_port);