diff --git a/src/net.cpp b/src/net.cpp
index 87f1ef05775..3f87dc63573 100644
--- a/src/net.cpp
+++ b/src/net.cpp
@@ -1765,9 +1765,15 @@ void CConnman::ThreadOpenConnections(const std::vector<std::string> connect)
                 addr = addrman.Select(fFeeler);
             }
 
-            // if we selected an invalid address, restart
-            if (!addr.IsValid() || setConnected.count(addr.GetGroup()) || IsLocal(addr))
+            // Require outbound connections to be to distinct network groups
+            if (!fFeeler && setConnected.count(addr.GetGroup())) {
                 break;
+            }
+
+            // if we selected an invalid address, restart
+            if (!addr.IsValid() || IsLocal(addr)) {
+                break;
+            }
 
             // If we didn't find an appropriate destination after trying 100 addresses fetched from addrman,
             // stop this loop, and let the outer loop run again (which sleeps, adds seed nodes, recalculates