diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 104033602b5f2..ae0b37989a86a 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -520,6 +520,7 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
         strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-relaypriority", strprintf(_("Require high priority for relaying free or low-fee transactions (default:%u)"), 1));
         strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-maxsigcachesize=<n>", strprintf(_("Limit size of signature cache to <n> entries (default: %u)"), 50000));
     }
+    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-maxtipage=<n>", strprintf("Maximum tip age in seconds to consider node in initial block download (default: %u)", DEFAULT_MAX_TIP_AGE));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-minrelaytxfee=<amt>", strprintf(_("Fees (in PIV/Kb) smaller than this are considered zero fee for relaying (default: %s)"), FormatMoney(::minRelayTxFee.GetFeePerK())));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-printtoconsole", strprintf(_("Send trace/debug info to console instead of debug.log file (default: %u)"), 0));
     if (GetBoolArg("-help-debug", false)) {
@@ -1019,6 +1020,8 @@ bool AppInit2()
 
     }
 
+    nMaxTipAge = GetArg("-maxtipage", DEFAULT_MAX_TIP_AGE);
+
     // ********************************************************* Step 4: application initialization: dir lock, daemonize, pidfile, debug log
 
     // Initialize elliptic curve code
@@ -2025,7 +2028,7 @@ bool AppInit2()
         // Run a thread to flush wallet periodically
         threadGroup.create_thread(boost::bind(&ThreadFlushWalletDB, boost::ref(pwalletMain->strWalletFile)));
 
-        if (GetBoolArg("-precompute", true)) {
+        if (GetBoolArg("-precompute", false)) {
             // Run a thread to precompute any zPIV spends
             threadGroup.create_thread(boost::bind(&ThreadPrecomputeSpends));
         }
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index a3acf0c51e9cf..a153cff33178b 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ unsigned int nCoinCacheSize = 5000;
 bool fAlerts = DEFAULT_ALERTS;
 bool fClearSpendCache = false;
 
+/* If the tip is older than this (in seconds), the node is considered to be in initial block download. */
+int64_t nMaxTipAge = DEFAULT_MAX_TIP_AGE;
+
 unsigned int nStakeMinAge = 60 * 60;
 int64_t nReserveBalance = 0;
 
@@ -2304,7 +2307,7 @@ bool IsInitialBlockDownload()
     if (lockIBDState)
         return false;
     bool state = (chainActive.Height() < pindexBestHeader->nHeight - 24 * 6 ||
-                  pindexBestHeader->GetBlockTime() < GetTime() - 6 * 60 * 60); // ~144 blocks behind -> 2 x fork detection time
+            pindexBestHeader->GetBlockTime() < GetTime() - nMaxTipAge);
     if (!state)
         lockIBDState = true;
     return state;
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index 8322998647aa4..0e246ddd433c0 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ static const unsigned int MAX_REJECT_MESSAGE_LENGTH = 111;
  static const bool DEFAULT_PEERBLOOMFILTERS = true;
 static const bool DEFAULT_PEERBLOOMFILTERS_ZC = false;
 
+/** If the tip is older than this (in seconds), the node is considered to be in initial block download. */
+static const int64_t DEFAULT_MAX_TIP_AGE = 24 * 60 * 60;
 
 /** Default for -blockspamfilter, use header spam filter */
 static const bool DEFAULT_BLOCK_SPAM_FILTER = true;
@@ -159,6 +161,7 @@ extern bool fCheckBlockIndex;
 extern unsigned int nCoinCacheSize;
 extern CFeeRate minRelayTxFee;
 extern bool fAlerts;
+extern int64_t nMaxTipAge;
 extern bool fVerifyingBlocks;
 extern bool fClearSpendCache;