diff --git a/pilot.go b/pilot.go
index 86093a6f..c77237a8 100644
--- a/pilot.go
+++ b/pilot.go
@@ -109,12 +109,6 @@ func initAutoPilot(svr *server, cfg *autoPilotConfig) (*autopilot.Agent, error)
 		Graph:           autopilot.ChannelGraphFromDatabase(svr.chanDB.ChannelGraph()),
 		MaxPendingOpens: 10,
 		ConnectToPeer: func(target *btcec.PublicKey, addrs []net.Addr) (bool, error) {
-			// We can't establish a channel if no addresses were
-			// provided for the peer.
-			if len(addrs) == 0 {
-				return false, errors.New("no addresses specified")
-			}
-
 			// First, we'll check if we're already connected to the
 			// target peer. If we are, we can exit early. Otherwise,
 			// we'll need to establish a connection.
@@ -122,6 +116,12 @@ func initAutoPilot(svr *server, cfg *autoPilotConfig) (*autopilot.Agent, error)
 				return true, nil
 			}
 
+			// We can't establish a channel if no addresses were
+			// provided for the peer.
+			if len(addrs) == 0 {
+				return false, errors.New("no addresses specified")
+			}
+
 			atplLog.Tracef("Attempting to connect to %x",
 				target.SerializeCompressed())