diff --git a/testutil/network/network.go b/testutil/network/network.go
index 988b50d4ac4c..d8fa29791b3b 100644
--- a/testutil/network/network.go
+++ b/testutil/network/network.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/config"
 	tmrand "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/rand"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/service"
 	tmclient "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/rpc/client"
@@ -233,6 +234,7 @@ func New(l Logger, baseDir string, cfg Config) (*Network, error) {
 		ctx := server.NewDefaultContext()
 		tmCfg := ctx.Config
 		tmCfg.Consensus.TimeoutCommit = cfg.TimeoutCommit
+		tmCfg.Mode = config.ModeValidator
 
 		// Only allow the first validator to expose an RPC, API and gRPC
 		// server/client due to Tendermint in-process constraints.
diff --git a/testutil/network/network_test.go b/testutil/network/network_test.go
index e13c8c454d28..43859ff5a8a4 100644
--- a/testutil/network/network_test.go
+++ b/testutil/network/network_test.go
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ func (s *IntegrationTestSuite) SetupSuite() {
 	s.network, err = network.New(s.T(), s.T().TempDir(), network.DefaultConfig())
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
 
-	_, err = s.network.WaitForHeight(1)
-	s.Require().NoError(err)
+	h, err := s.network.WaitForHeight(1)
+	s.Require().NoError(err, "stalled at height %d", h)
 }
 
 func (s *IntegrationTestSuite) TearDownSuite() {