diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/manager/EthPeers.java b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/manager/EthPeers.java
index 09a998cf64..d19c7dfca2 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/manager/EthPeers.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/manager/EthPeers.java
@@ -473,6 +473,7 @@ public class EthPeers implements PeerSelector {
     return streamAvailablePeers()
         .filter(filter)
         .filter(EthPeer::hasAvailableRequestCapacity)
+        .filter(EthPeer::isFullyValidated)
         .min(LEAST_TO_MOST_BUSY);
   }