diff --git a/nano/core_test/toml.cpp b/nano/core_test/toml.cpp
index 0871684685..5b9c7f5896 100644
--- a/nano/core_test/toml.cpp
+++ b/nano/core_test/toml.cpp
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ TEST (toml, daemon_config_deserialize_no_defaults)
 	peering_port = 999
 	pow_sleep_interval= 999
 	preconfigured_peers = ["dev.org"]
-	blocked_peers = ["192.168.0.1"]
+	blocked_peers = ["192.168.0.1", "2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334"]
 	preconfigured_representatives = ["nano_3arg3asgtigae3xckabaaewkx3bzsh7nwz7jkmjos79ihyaxwphhm6qgjps4"]
 	receive_minimum = "999"
 	signature_checker_threads = 999
diff --git a/nano/node/network.cpp b/nano/node/network.cpp
index 7e52649389..9f33370cc1 100644
--- a/nano/node/network.cpp
+++ b/nano/node/network.cpp
@@ -67,8 +67,6 @@ nano::network::~network ()
 
 void nano::network::start ()
 {
-	Configure_blocked_peers ();
-
 	if (!node.flags.disable_connection_cleanup)
 	{
 		ongoing_cleanup ();
@@ -349,39 +347,6 @@ void nano::network::broadcast_confirm_req_many (std::deque<std::pair<std::shared
 	}
 }
 
-void nano::network::Configure_blocked_peers ()
-{
-	for (const std::string & ip_string : node.config.blocked_peers)
-	{
-		boost::system::error_code ec;
-		auto ip_address = boost::asio::ip::address::from_string (ip_string, ec);
-
-		if (!ec)
-		{
-			if (ip_address.is_v4 ())
-			{
-				// Convert IPv4 address to IPv4-mapped IPv6 address
-				blocked_ips.insert (boost::asio::ip::address_v6::v4_mapped (ip_address.to_v4 ()));
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				blocked_ips.insert (ip_address);
-			}
-
-			node.logger.info (nano::log::type::network, "Added blocking rule for ip {}", ip_address.to_string ());
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			node.logger.error (nano::log::type::network, "Invalid IP address: {}", ip_string);
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-bool nano::network::is_ip_blocked (const boost::asio::ip::address & ip_address) const
-{
-	return blocked_ips.find (ip_address) != blocked_ips.end ();
-}
-
 namespace
 {
 class network_message_visitor : public nano::message_visitor
@@ -503,12 +468,6 @@ class network_message_visitor : public nano::message_visitor
 
 void nano::network::process_message (nano::message const & message, std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::channel> const & channel)
 {
-	if (is_ip_blocked (channel->get_tcp_endpoint ().address ()))
-	{
-		node.logger.debug (nano::log::type::network, "Ignoring message from IP {}", channel->get_tcp_endpoint ().address ().to_string ());
-		return;
-	}
-
 	node.stats.inc (nano::stat::type::message, to_stat_detail (message.header.type), nano::stat::dir::in);
 
 	network_message_visitor visitor{ node, channel };
diff --git a/nano/node/network.hpp b/nano/node/network.hpp
index 0069c3b9b9..f0785d9441 100644
--- a/nano/node/network.hpp
+++ b/nano/node/network.hpp
@@ -100,8 +100,6 @@ class network final
 	void broadcast_confirm_req_base (std::shared_ptr<nano::block> const &, std::shared_ptr<std::vector<std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::channel>>> const &, unsigned, bool = false);
 	void broadcast_confirm_req_batched_many (std::unordered_map<std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::channel>, std::deque<std::pair<nano::block_hash, nano::root>>>, std::function<void ()> = nullptr, unsigned = broadcast_interval_ms, bool = false);
 	void broadcast_confirm_req_many (std::deque<std::pair<std::shared_ptr<nano::block>, std::shared_ptr<std::vector<std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::channel>>>>>, std::function<void ()> = nullptr, unsigned = broadcast_interval_ms);
-	void Configure_blocked_peers ();
-	bool is_ip_blocked (const boost::asio::ip::address & ip_address) const;
 	std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::channel> find_node_id (nano::account const &);
 	std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::channel> find_channel (nano::endpoint const &);
 	bool not_a_peer (nano::endpoint const &, bool);
@@ -135,7 +133,6 @@ class network final
 	bool verify_handshake_response (nano::node_id_handshake::response_payload const & response, nano::endpoint const & remote_endpoint);
 	std::optional<nano::node_id_handshake::query_payload> prepare_handshake_query (nano::endpoint const & remote_endpoint);
 	nano::node_id_handshake::response_payload prepare_handshake_response (nano::node_id_handshake::query_payload const & query, bool v2) const;
-	std::unordered_set<boost::asio::ip::address> blocked_ips;
 
 private:
 	void process_message (nano::message const &, std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::channel> const &);
diff --git a/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.cpp b/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.cpp
index af163701a5..f2b9f1733a 100644
--- a/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.cpp
+++ b/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ nano::transport::tcp_listener::tcp_listener (uint16_t port_a, nano::node & node_
 
 void nano::transport::tcp_listener::start (std::function<bool (std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::socket> const &, boost::system::error_code const &)> callback_a)
 {
+	configure_blocked_peers ();
 	nano::lock_guard<nano::mutex> lock{ mutex };
 	on = true;
 	acceptor.open (local.protocol ());
@@ -136,6 +137,13 @@ void nano::transport::tcp_listener::on_connection (std::function<bool (std::shar
 		[this_l, new_connection, cbk = std::move (callback)] (boost::system::error_code const & ec_a) mutable {
 			this_l->evict_dead_connections ();
 
+			if (this_l->is_ip_blocked (new_connection->remote.address ()))
+			{
+				this_l->node.logger.info (nano::log::type::tcp_listener, "Connection refused from blocked IP: {}", new_connection->remote_endpoint ().address ().to_string ());
+				this_l->on_connection (std::move (cbk));
+				return;
+			}
+
 			if (this_l->connections_per_address.size () >= this_l->max_inbound_connections)
 			{
 				this_l->node.stats.inc (nano::stat::type::tcp, nano::stat::detail::tcp_accept_failure, nano::stat::dir::in);
@@ -217,6 +225,44 @@ void nano::transport::tcp_listener::on_connection (std::function<bool (std::shar
 	}));
 }
 
+void nano::transport::tcp_listener::configure_blocked_peers ()
+{
+	blocked_ips.clear ();
+	if (!node.config.blocked_peers.empty ())
+	{
+		node.logger.info (nano::log::type::tcp_listener, "Setting up network blocking rules");
+		for (const std::string & ip_string : node.config.blocked_peers)
+		{
+			boost::system::error_code ec;
+			auto ip_address = boost::asio::ip::address::from_string (ip_string, ec);
+
+			if (!ec)
+			{
+				if (ip_address.is_v4 ())
+				{
+					// Convert IPv4 address to IPv4-mapped IPv6 address
+					blocked_ips.insert (boost::asio::ip::address_v6::v4_mapped (ip_address.to_v4 ()));
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					blocked_ips.insert (ip_address);
+				}
+
+				node.logger.info (nano::log::type::tcp_listener, "Added blocking rule for ip {}", ip_address.to_string ());
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				node.logger.error (nano::log::type::tcp_listener, "Invalid IP address: {}", ip_string);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+bool nano::transport::tcp_listener::is_ip_blocked (const boost::asio::ip::address & ip_address) const
+{
+	return blocked_ips.find (ip_address) != blocked_ips.end ();
+}
+
 // If we are unable to accept a socket, for any reason, we wait just a little (1ms) before rescheduling the next connection accept.
 // The intention is to throttle back the connection requests and break up any busy loops that could possibly form and
 // give the rest of the system a chance to recover.
diff --git a/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.hpp b/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.hpp
index e011c50630..0a1c939296 100644
--- a/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.hpp
+++ b/nano/node/transport/tcp_server.hpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <nano/node/transport/socket.hpp>
 
 #include <atomic>
+#include <unordered_set>
 
 namespace nano
 {
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ class tcp_listener final : public std::enable_shared_from_this<nano::transport::
 	bool on{ false };
 	std::atomic<std::size_t> bootstrap_count{ 0 };
 	std::atomic<std::size_t> realtime_count{ 0 };
+	std::unordered_set<boost::asio::ip::address> blocked_ips;
 
 private:
 	boost::asio::strand<boost::asio::io_context::executor_type> strand;
@@ -48,6 +50,8 @@ class tcp_listener final : public std::enable_shared_from_this<nano::transport::
 	/** Checks whether the maximum number of connections per IP was reached. If so, it returns true. */
 	bool limit_reached_for_incoming_ip_connections (std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::socket> const & new_connection);
 	bool limit_reached_for_incoming_subnetwork_connections (std::shared_ptr<nano::transport::socket> const & new_connection);
+	void configure_blocked_peers ();
+	bool is_ip_blocked (const boost::asio::ip::address & ip_address) const;
 };
 
 std::unique_ptr<container_info_component> collect_container_info (tcp_listener & bootstrap_listener, std::string const & name);