diff --git a/lntest/node.go b/lntest/node.go
index c41897e2..5c54a3e6 100644
--- a/lntest/node.go
+++ b/lntest/node.go
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ type nodeConfig struct {
 	ReadMacPath    string
 	InvoiceMacPath string
 
+	HasSeed bool
+
 	P2PPort  int
 	RPCPort  int
 	RESTPort int
@@ -136,7 +138,6 @@ func (cfg nodeConfig) genArgs() []string {
 	encodedCert := hex.EncodeToString(cfg.RPCConfig.Certificates)
 	args = append(args, "--bitcoin.active")
 	args = append(args, "--nobootstrap")
-	args = append(args, "--noencryptwallet")
 	args = append(args, "--debuglevel=debug")
 	args = append(args, "--bitcoin.defaultchanconfs=1")
 	args = append(args, "--bitcoin.defaultremotedelay=4")
@@ -159,6 +160,10 @@ func (cfg nodeConfig) genArgs() []string {
 	args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("--externalip=%s", cfg.P2PAddr()))
 	args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("--trickledelay=%v", trickleDelay))
 
+	if !cfg.HasSeed {
+		args = append(args, "--noencryptwallet")
+	}
+
 	if cfg.ExtraArgs != nil {
 		args = append(args, cfg.ExtraArgs...)
 	}
@@ -195,10 +200,13 @@ type HarnessNode struct {
 	wg   sync.WaitGroup
 
 	lnrpc.LightningClient
+
+	lnrpc.WalletUnlockerClient
 }
 
 // Assert *HarnessNode implements the lnrpc.LightningClient interface.
 var _ lnrpc.LightningClient = (*HarnessNode)(nil)
+var _ lnrpc.WalletUnlockerClient = (*HarnessNode)(nil)
 
 // newNode creates a new test lightning node instance from the passed config.
 func newNode(cfg nodeConfig) (*HarnessNode, error) {
@@ -301,13 +309,78 @@ func (hn *HarnessNode) start(lndError chan<- error) error {
 
 	// Since Stop uses the LightningClient to stop the node, if we fail to get a
 	// connected client, we have to kill the process.
-	conn, err := hn.connectRPC()
+	useMacaroons := !hn.cfg.HasSeed
+	conn, err := hn.ConnectRPC(useMacaroons)
 	if err != nil {
 		hn.cmd.Process.Kill()
 		return err
 	}
+
+	// If the node was created with a seed, we will need to perform an
+	// additional step to unlock the wallet. The connection returned will
+	// only use the TLS certs, and can only perform operations necessary to
+	// unlock the daemon.
+	if hn.cfg.HasSeed {
+		hn.WalletUnlockerClient = lnrpc.NewWalletUnlockerClient(conn)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	return hn.initLightningClient(conn)
+}
+
+// Init initializes a harness node by passing the init request via rpc. After
+// the request is submitted, this method will block until an
+// macaroon-authenticated rpc connection can be established to the harness node.
+// Once established, the new connection is used to initialize the
+// LightningClient and subscribes the HarnessNode to topology changes.
+func (hn *HarnessNode) Init(ctx context.Context,
+	initReq *lnrpc.InitWalletRequest) error {
+
+	timeout := time.Duration(time.Second * 15)
+	ctxt, _ := context.WithTimeout(ctx, timeout)
+	_, err := hn.InitWallet(ctxt, initReq)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Wait for the wallet to finish unlocking, such that we can connect to
+	// it via a macaroon-authenticated rpc connection.
+	var conn *grpc.ClientConn
+	if err = WaitPredicate(func() bool {
+		conn, err = hn.ConnectRPC(true)
+		return err == nil
+	}, 5*time.Second); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return hn.initLightningClient(conn)
+}
+
+// initLightningClient constructs the grpc LightningClient from the given client
+// connection and subscribes the harness node to graph topology updates.
+func (hn *HarnessNode) initLightningClient(conn *grpc.ClientConn) error {
+	// Construct the LightningClient that will allow us to use the
+	// HarnessNode directly for normal rpc operations.
 	hn.LightningClient = lnrpc.NewLightningClient(conn)
 
+	// Set the harness node's pubkey to what the node claims in GetInfo.
+	err := hn.FetchNodeInfo()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Launch the watcher that will hook into graph related topology change
+	// from the PoV of this node.
+	hn.wg.Add(1)
+	go hn.lightningNetworkWatcher()
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// FetchNodeInfo queries an unlocked node to retrieve its public key. This
+// method also spawns a lightning network watcher for this node, which watches
+// for topology changes.
+func (hn *HarnessNode) FetchNodeInfo() error {
 	// Obtain the lnid of this node for quick identification purposes.
 	ctxb := context.Background()
 	info, err := hn.GetInfo(ctxb, &lnrpc.GetInfoRequest{})
@@ -323,11 +396,6 @@ func (hn *HarnessNode) start(lndError chan<- error) error {
 	}
 	copy(hn.PubKey[:], pubkey)
 
-	// Launch the watcher that will hook into graph related topology change
-	// from the PoV of this node.
-	hn.wg.Add(1)
-	go hn.lightningNetworkWatcher()
-
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -365,24 +433,45 @@ func (hn *HarnessNode) writePidFile() error {
 
 // connectRPC uses the TLS certificate and admin macaroon files written by the
 // lnd node to create a gRPC client connection.
-func (hn *HarnessNode) connectRPC() (*grpc.ClientConn, error) {
+func (hn *HarnessNode) ConnectRPC(useMacs bool) (*grpc.ClientConn, error) {
 	// Wait until TLS certificate and admin macaroon are created before
 	// using them, up to 20 sec.
 	tlsTimeout := time.After(30 * time.Second)
-	for !fileExists(hn.cfg.TLSCertPath) || !fileExists(hn.cfg.AdminMacPath) {
+	for !fileExists(hn.cfg.TLSCertPath) {
 		select {
 		case <-tlsTimeout:
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("timeout waiting for TLS cert file " +
-				"and admin macaroon file to be created after " +
-				"20 seconds")
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("timeout waiting for TLS cert " +
+				"file to be created after 30 seconds")
 		case <-time.After(100 * time.Millisecond):
 		}
 	}
 
+	opts := []grpc.DialOption{
+		grpc.WithBlock(),
+		grpc.WithTimeout(time.Second * 20),
+	}
+
 	tlsCreds, err := credentials.NewClientTLSFromFile(hn.cfg.TLSCertPath, "")
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
+	opts = append(opts, grpc.WithTransportCredentials(tlsCreds))
+
+	if !useMacs {
+		return grpc.Dial(hn.cfg.RPCAddr(), opts...)
+	}
+
+	macTimeout := time.After(30 * time.Second)
+	for !fileExists(hn.cfg.AdminMacPath) {
+		select {
+		case <-macTimeout:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("timeout waiting for admin " +
+				"macaroon file to be created after 30 seconds")
+		case <-time.After(100 * time.Millisecond):
+		}
+	}
+
 	macBytes, err := ioutil.ReadFile(hn.cfg.AdminMacPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -391,12 +480,10 @@ func (hn *HarnessNode) connectRPC() (*grpc.ClientConn, error) {
 	if err = mac.UnmarshalBinary(macBytes); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	opts := []grpc.DialOption{
-		grpc.WithTransportCredentials(tlsCreds),
-		grpc.WithPerRPCCredentials(macaroons.NewMacaroonCredential(mac)),
-		grpc.WithBlock(),
-		grpc.WithTimeout(time.Second * 20),
-	}
+
+	macCred := macaroons.NewMacaroonCredential(mac)
+	opts = append(opts, grpc.WithPerRPCCredentials(macCred))
+
 	return grpc.Dial(hn.cfg.RPCAddr(), opts...)
 }
 
@@ -441,6 +528,7 @@ func (hn *HarnessNode) stop() error {
 	hn.quit = nil
 	hn.processExit = nil
 	hn.LightningClient = nil
+	hn.WalletUnlockerClient = nil
 	return nil
 }