diff --git a/multinode-demo/setup.sh b/multinode-demo/setup.sh
index da50e2e27e42ac..1814337586a67b 100755
--- a/multinode-demo/setup.sh
+++ b/multinode-demo/setup.sh
@@ -98,6 +98,9 @@ fi
 
 
 if $node_type_validator; then
+  echo "Requesting an airdrop from solana-drone"
+  $solana_wallet --keypair="$id_path" airdrop --tokens=1
+
   echo "Creating $SOLANA_CONFIG_DIR/validator.json"
   $solana_fullnode_config --keypair="$id_path" "${validator_address_args[@]}" > "$SOLANA_CONFIG_DIR"/validator.json
 fi