diff --git a/dht_bootstrap.go b/dht_bootstrap.go
index 9e4e60e8b..97f5e3387 100644
--- a/dht_bootstrap.go
+++ b/dht_bootstrap.go
@@ -65,6 +65,15 @@ func (dht *IpfsDHT) BootstrapWithConfig(ctx context.Context, cfg BootstrapConfig
 	return nil
 }
 
+// This is a synchronous bootstrap. cfg.Queries queries will run each with a
+// timeout of cfg.Timeout. cfg.Period is not used.
+func (dht *IpfsDHT) BootstrapOnce(ctx context.Context, cfg BootstrapConfig) error {
+	if cfg.Queries <= 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid number of queries: %d", cfg.Queries)
+	}
+	return dht.runBootstrap(ctx, cfg)
+}
+
 func newRandomPeerId() peer.ID {
 	id := make([]byte, 32) // SHA256 is the default. TODO: Use a more canonical way to generate random IDs.
 	rand.Read(id)
diff --git a/dht_test.go b/dht_test.go
index d83c08675..7899fbcec 100644
--- a/dht_test.go
+++ b/dht_test.go
@@ -709,10 +709,7 @@ func TestPeriodicBootstrap(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Logf("bootstrapping them so they find each other. %d", nDHTs)
 	for _, dht := range dhts {
-		err := dht.BootstrapWithConfig(ctx, cfg)
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatalf("error bootstrapping a dht: %s", err)
-		}
+		go dht.BootstrapOnce(ctx, cfg)
 	}
 
 	// this is async, and we dont know when it's finished with one cycle, so keep checking