diff --git a/eth/backend.go b/eth/backend.go
index c6787870c..09559f0ac 100644
--- a/eth/backend.go
+++ b/eth/backend.go
@@ -152,6 +152,10 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	networkID := config.NetworkId
+	if networkID == 0 {
+		networkID = chainConfig.ChainID.Uint64()
+	}
 	eth := &Ethereum{
 		config:            config,
 		merger:            consensus.NewMerger(chainDb),
@@ -160,7 +164,7 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 		accountManager:    stack.AccountManager(),
 		engine:            engine,
 		closeBloomHandler: make(chan struct{}),
-		networkID:         config.NetworkId,
+		networkID:         networkID,
 		gasPrice:          config.Miner.GasPrice,
 		etherbase:         config.Miner.Etherbase,
 		bloomRequests:     make(chan chan *bloombits.Retrieval),
@@ -173,7 +177,7 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 	if bcVersion != nil {
 		dbVer = fmt.Sprintf("%d", *bcVersion)
 	}
-	log.Info("Initialising Ethereum protocol", "network", config.NetworkId, "dbversion", dbVer)
+	log.Info("Initialising Ethereum protocol", "network", networkID, "dbversion", dbVer)
 
 	if !config.SkipBcVersionCheck {
 		if bcVersion != nil && *bcVersion > core.BlockChainVersion {
@@ -236,7 +240,7 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 		Chain:          eth.blockchain,
 		TxPool:         eth.txPool,
 		Merger:         eth.merger,
-		Network:        config.NetworkId,
+		Network:        networkID,
 		Sync:           config.SyncMode,
 		BloomCache:     uint64(cacheLimit),
 		EventMux:       eth.eventMux,
@@ -270,7 +274,7 @@ func New(stack *node.Node, config *ethconfig.Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Start the RPC service
-	eth.netRPCService = ethapi.NewNetAPI(eth.p2pServer, config.NetworkId)
+	eth.netRPCService = ethapi.NewNetAPI(eth.p2pServer, networkID)
 
 	// Register the backend on the node
 	stack.RegisterAPIs(eth.APIs())
diff --git a/eth/ethconfig/config.go b/eth/ethconfig/config.go
index bfb1df3fb..5e8f58efd 100644
--- a/eth/ethconfig/config.go
+++ b/eth/ethconfig/config.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ var LightClientGPO = gasprice.Config{
 // Defaults contains default settings for use on the Ethereum main net.
 var Defaults = Config{
 	SyncMode:           downloader.SnapSync,
-	NetworkId:          1,
+	NetworkId:          0, // enable auto configuration of networkID == chainID
 	TxLookupLimit:      2350000,
 	TransactionHistory: 2350000,
 	StateHistory:       params.FullImmutabilityThreshold,
@@ -87,8 +87,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	// If nil, the Ethereum main net block is used.
 	Genesis *core.Genesis `toml:",omitempty"`
 
-	// Protocol options
-	NetworkId uint64 // Network ID to use for selecting peers to connect to
+	// Network ID separates blockchains on the peer-to-peer networking level. When left
+	// zero, the chain ID is used as network ID.
+	NetworkId uint64
 	SyncMode  downloader.SyncMode
 
 	// This can be set to list of enrtree:// URLs which will be queried for
diff --git a/ethclient/ethclient_test.go b/ethclient/ethclient_test.go
index 4aa25759f..0f87ad5f5 100644
--- a/ethclient/ethclient_test.go
+++ b/ethclient/ethclient_test.go
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ func testStatusFunctions(t *testing.T, client *rpc.Client) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
 	}
-	if networkID.Cmp(big.NewInt(0)) != 0 {
+	if networkID.Cmp(big.NewInt(1337)) != 0 {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected networkID: %v", networkID)
 	}