diff --git a/test/functional/feature_anchors.py b/test/functional/feature_anchors.py
index 24bb02bc90..c39f6e6d4b 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_anchors.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_anchors.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ def check_node_connections(*, node, num_in, num_out):
 class AnchorsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def set_test_params(self):
         self.num_nodes = 1
+        self.disable_autoconnect = False
 
     def setup_network(self):
         self.setup_nodes()
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
index de9d0d2e80..5a23df8a13 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ class ConfArgsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
         self.num_nodes = 1
         self.supports_cli = False
         self.wallet_names = []
+        self.disable_autoconnect = False
 
     def test_config_file_parser(self):
         self.stop_node(0)
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
index 40360c54a0..6d8e6ef45c 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
@@ -112,6 +112,9 @@ class BitcoinTestFramework(metaclass=BitcoinTestMetaClass):
         # By default the wallet is not required. Set to true by skip_if_no_wallet().
         # When False, we ignore wallet_names regardless of what it is.
         self.requires_wallet = False
+        # Disable ThreadOpenConnections by default, so that adding entries to
+        # addrman will not result in automatic connections to them.
+        self.disable_autoconnect = True
         self.set_test_params()
         assert self.wallet_names is None or len(self.wallet_names) <= self.num_nodes
         if self.options.timeout_factor == 0 :
@@ -711,7 +714,7 @@ class BitcoinTestFramework(metaclass=BitcoinTestMetaClass):
         if not os.path.isdir(cache_node_dir):
             self.log.debug("Creating cache directory {}".format(cache_node_dir))
 
-            initialize_datadir(self.options.cachedir, CACHE_NODE_ID, self.chain)
+            initialize_datadir(self.options.cachedir, CACHE_NODE_ID, self.chain, self.disable_autoconnect)
             self.nodes.append(
                 TestNode(
                     CACHE_NODE_ID,
@@ -769,7 +772,7 @@ class BitcoinTestFramework(metaclass=BitcoinTestMetaClass):
             self.log.debug("Copy cache directory {} to node {}".format(cache_node_dir, i))
             to_dir = get_datadir_path(self.options.tmpdir, i)
             shutil.copytree(cache_node_dir, to_dir)
-            initialize_datadir(self.options.tmpdir, i, self.chain)  # Overwrite port/rpcport in bitcoin.conf
+            initialize_datadir(self.options.tmpdir, i, self.chain, self.disable_autoconnect)  # Overwrite port/rpcport in bitcoin.conf
 
     def _initialize_chain_clean(self):
         """Initialize empty blockchain for use by the test.
@@ -777,7 +780,7 @@ class BitcoinTestFramework(metaclass=BitcoinTestMetaClass):
         Create an empty blockchain and num_nodes wallets.
         Useful if a test case wants complete control over initialization."""
         for i in range(self.num_nodes):
-            initialize_datadir(self.options.tmpdir, i, self.chain)
+            initialize_datadir(self.options.tmpdir, i, self.chain, self.disable_autoconnect)
 
     def skip_if_no_py3_zmq(self):
         """Attempt to import the zmq package and skip the test if the import fails."""
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
index b0f15ddafe..a9a6adcfc8 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
@@ -337,17 +337,17 @@ def rpc_url(datadir, i, chain, rpchost):
 ################
 
 
-def initialize_datadir(dirname, n, chain):
+def initialize_datadir(dirname, n, chain, disable_autoconnect=True):
     datadir = get_datadir_path(dirname, n)
     if not os.path.isdir(datadir):
         os.makedirs(datadir)
-    write_config(os.path.join(datadir, "bitcoin.conf"), n=n, chain=chain)
+    write_config(os.path.join(datadir, "bitcoin.conf"), n=n, chain=chain, disable_autoconnect=disable_autoconnect)
     os.makedirs(os.path.join(datadir, 'stderr'), exist_ok=True)
     os.makedirs(os.path.join(datadir, 'stdout'), exist_ok=True)
     return datadir
 
 
-def write_config(config_path, *, n, chain, extra_config=""):
+def write_config(config_path, *, n, chain, extra_config="", disable_autoconnect=True):
     # Translate chain subdirectory name to config name
     if chain == 'testnet3':
         chain_name_conf_arg = 'testnet'
@@ -375,6 +375,8 @@ def write_config(config_path, *, n, chain, extra_config=""):
         f.write("shrinkdebugfile=0\n")
         # To improve SQLite wallet performance so that the tests don't timeout, use -unsafesqlitesync
         f.write("unsafesqlitesync=1\n")
+        if disable_autoconnect:
+            f.write("connect=0\n")
         f.write(extra_config)