diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index 0391edada..337d1f6a4 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -909,8 +909,8 @@ void CConnman::AcceptConnection(const ListenSocket& hListenSocket) {
     bool legacyWhitelisted = false;
     if (NetPermissions::HasFlag(permissionFlags, NetPermissionFlags::PF_ISIMPLICIT)) {
         NetPermissions::ClearFlag(permissionFlags, PF_ISIMPLICIT);
-        if (gArgs.GetBoolArg("-whitelistforcerelay", false)) NetPermissions::AddFlag(permissionFlags, PF_FORCERELAY);
-        if (gArgs.GetBoolArg("-whitelistrelay", false)) NetPermissions::AddFlag(permissionFlags, PF_RELAY);
+        if (gArgs.GetBoolArg("-whitelistforcerelay", DEFAULT_WHITELISTFORCERELAY)) NetPermissions::AddFlag(permissionFlags, PF_FORCERELAY);
+        if (gArgs.GetBoolArg("-whitelistrelay", DEFAULT_WHITELISTRELAY)) NetPermissions::AddFlag(permissionFlags, PF_RELAY);
         NetPermissions::AddFlag(permissionFlags, PF_MEMPOOL);
         NetPermissions::AddFlag(permissionFlags, PF_NOBAN);
         legacyWhitelisted = true;
diff --git a/src/net.h b/src/net.h
index 75c05c9cb..6c77d8135 100644
--- a/src/net.h
+++ b/src/net.h
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ class CScheduler;
 class CNode;
 class BanMan;
 
+/** Default for -whitelistrelay. */
+static const bool DEFAULT_WHITELISTRELAY = true;
+/** Default for -whitelistforcerelay. */
+static const bool DEFAULT_WHITELISTFORCERELAY = false;
+
 /** Time between pings automatically sent out for latency probing and keepalive (in seconds). */
 static const int PING_INTERVAL = 2 * 60;
 /** Time after which to disconnect, after waiting for a ping response (or inactivity). */
diff --git a/src/validation.h b/src/validation.h
index 7cf3311f2..99850f71d 100644
--- a/src/validation.h
+++ b/src/validation.h
@@ -50,10 +50,6 @@ struct DisconnectedBlockTransactions;
 struct PrecomputedTransactionData;
 struct LockPoints;
 
-/** Default for -whitelistrelay. */
-static const bool DEFAULT_WHITELISTRELAY = true;
-/** Default for -whitelistforcerelay. */
-static const bool DEFAULT_WHITELISTFORCERELAY = false;
 /** Default for -minrelaytxfee, minimum relay fee for transactions */
 static const unsigned int DEFAULT_MIN_RELAY_TX_FEE = 1000;
 /** Default for -limitancestorcount, max number of in-mempool ancestors */
diff --git a/test/functional/p2p_permissions.py b/test/functional/p2p_permissions.py
index 101305542..24bd8cae9 100644
--- a/test/functional/p2p_permissions.py
+++ b/test/functional/p2p_permissions.py
@@ -22,12 +22,19 @@ class P2PPermissionsTests(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.extra_args = [[],[]]
 
     def run_test(self):
+
         self.checkpermission(
-        # relay permission added
-        ["-whitelist=127.0.0.1", "-whitelistrelay"],
+        # default permissions (no specific permissions)
+        ["-whitelist=127.0.0.1"],
         ["relay", "noban", "mempool"],
         True)
 
+        self.checkpermission(
+        # relay permission removed (no specific permissions)
+        ["-whitelist=127.0.0.1", "-whitelistrelay=0"],
+        ["noban", "mempool"],
+        True)
+
         self.checkpermission(
         # forcerelay and relay permission added
         # Legacy parameter interaction which set whitelistrelay to true