diff --git a/beacon_node/src/config.rs b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
index b29d6680c67..b32a0cec15b 100644
--- a/beacon_node/src/config.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ pub fn get_config<E: EthSpec>(
         client_config.eth1.endpoints = vec![SensitiveUrl::parse(endpoint)
             .map_err(|e| format!("eth1-endpoint was an invalid URL: {:?}", e))?];
     } else if let Some(endpoints) = cli_args.value_of("eth1-endpoints") {
+        client_config.sync_eth1_chain = true;
         client_config.eth1.endpoints = endpoints
             .split(',')
             .map(|s| SensitiveUrl::parse(s))
diff --git a/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs b/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
index 249033377d1..b9ab6ce9982 100644
--- a/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
+++ b/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ fn eth1_endpoints_flag() {
                 "https://infura.io/secret"
             );
             assert_eq!(config.eth1.endpoints[1].to_string(), "https://infura.io/");
+            assert!(config.sync_eth1_chain);
         });
 }
 #[test]