diff --git a/net/swarm/conn.go b/net/swarm/conn.go
index fb34eb619..74c3b03d4 100644
--- a/net/swarm/conn.go
+++ b/net/swarm/conn.go
@@ -126,8 +126,8 @@ func (s *Swarm) peerMultiConn(p peer.Peer) (*conn.MultiConn, error) {
 	return mc, nil
 }
 
-// connSetup adds the passed in connection to its peerMap and starts
-// the fanInSingle routine for that connection
+// connSetup takes a new connection, performs the IPFS handshake (handshake3)
+// and then adds it to the appropriate MultiConn.
 func (s *Swarm) connSetup(c conn.Conn) (conn.Conn, error) {
 	if c == nil {
 		return nil, errors.New("Tried to start nil connection.")
diff --git a/net/swarm/swarm.go b/net/swarm/swarm.go
index d0b5c65a6..9328ed7cd 100644
--- a/net/swarm/swarm.go
+++ b/net/swarm/swarm.go
@@ -132,7 +132,15 @@ func (s *Swarm) Dial(peer peer.Peer) (conn.Conn, error) {
 		Peerstore: s.peers,
 	}
 
-	c, err = d.Dial(s.Context(), "tcp", peer)
+	// try to connect to one of the peer's known addresses.
+	// for simplicity, we do this sequentially.
+	// A future commit will do this asynchronously.
+	for _, addr := range peer.Addresses() {
+		c, err = d.DialAddr(s.Context(), addr, peer)
+		if err == nil {
+			break
+		}
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}