diff --git a/src/app/fdctl/config.c b/src/app/fdctl/config.c
index 14b0db8025..7d26a676d5 100644
--- a/src/app/fdctl/config.c
+++ b/src/app/fdctl/config.c
@@ -239,6 +239,7 @@ static int parse_key_value( config_t *   config,
 
   ENTRY_BOOL  ( ., development,         sandbox                                                   );
   ENTRY_BOOL  ( ., development,         no_solana_labs                                            );
+  ENTRY_BOOL  ( ., development,         bootstrap                                                 );
 
   ENTRY_BOOL  ( ., development.netns,   enabled                                                   );
   ENTRY_STR   ( ., development.netns,   interface0                                                );
diff --git a/src/app/fdctl/config.h b/src/app/fdctl/config.h
index 42a3ced858..e2745b1a4a 100644
--- a/src/app/fdctl/config.h
+++ b/src/app/fdctl/config.h
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ typedef struct {
   struct {
     int sandbox;
     int no_solana_labs;
+    int bootstrap;
     uint debug_tile;
     struct {
       int  enabled;
diff --git a/src/app/fdctl/config/default.toml b/src/app/fdctl/config/default.toml
index 94a7467d29..689dd8cbe9 100644
--- a/src/app/fdctl/config/default.toml
+++ b/src/app/fdctl/config/default.toml
@@ -843,6 +843,21 @@ dynamic_port_range = "8900-9000"
     # the `--no-solana-labs` argument to `fddev`.
     no_solana_labs = false
 
+    # Sometimes, it may be useful to run a bootstrap firedancer validator,
+    # either for development or for testing purposes.  The `fddev` tool is
+    # provided for this purpose, which creates the bootstrap keys and does
+    # the cluster genesis using some parameters that are typically useful
+    # for development.
+    #
+    # Enabling this allows de-coupling the genesis and key creation from
+    # the validator startup.  The bootstrap validator can then be started
+    # up with `fdctl`.  It will expect the genesis to already exist at
+    # [ledger.path].  The keys used during genesis should be the same as
+    # the ones supplied in the [consensus.identity_path] and
+    # [consensus.vote_account_path].  This option will not be effective if
+    # [gossip.entrypoints] is non-empty.
+    bootstrap = false
+
     # It can be convenient during development to use a network namespace
     # for running Firedancer.  This allows us to send packets at a local
     # Firedancer instance and have them go through more of the kernel
diff --git a/src/app/fdctl/run/run.c b/src/app/fdctl/run/run.c
index 3fbb713051..66b909256c 100644
--- a/src/app/fdctl/run/run.c
+++ b/src/app/fdctl/run/run.c
@@ -456,11 +456,12 @@ run_cmd_fn( args_t *         args,
             config_t * const config ) {
   (void)args;
 
-  if( FD_UNLIKELY( !config->gossip.entrypoints_cnt ) )
+  if( FD_UNLIKELY( !config->gossip.entrypoints_cnt && !config->development.bootstrap ) )
     FD_LOG_ERR(( "No entrypoints specified in configuration file under [gossip.entrypoints], but "
                  "at least one is needed to determine how to connect to the Solana cluster. If "
                  "you want to start a new cluster in a development environment, use `fddev` instead "
-                 "of `fdctl`." ));
+                 "of `fdctl`. If you want to use an existing genesis, set [development.bootstrap] "
+                 "to \"true\" in the configuration file." ));
 
   for( ulong i=0; i<config->gossip.entrypoints_cnt; i++ ) {
     if( FD_UNLIKELY( !strcmp( config->gossip.entrypoints[ i ], "" ) ) )