diff --git a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/cmds/start_prover_node.ts b/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/cmds/start_prover_node.ts
index 706af1913488..f19130e50ce4 100644
--- a/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/cmds/start_prover_node.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/aztec/src/cli/cmds/start_prover_node.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import {
   getProverNodeConfigFromEnv,
   proverNodeConfigMappings,
 } from '@aztec/prover-node';
-import { createAztecNodeClient } from '@aztec/stdlib/interfaces/client';
 import { P2PApiSchema, ProverNodeApiSchema, type ProvingJobBroker } from '@aztec/stdlib/interfaces/server';
 import { initTelemetryClient, makeTracedFetch, telemetryClientConfigMappings } from '@aztec/telemetry-client';
 import { getGenesisValues } from '@aztec/world-state/testing';
@@ -54,31 +53,18 @@ export async function startProverNode(
     proverConfig.publisherPrivateKey = `0x${Buffer.from(privKey!).toString('hex')}`;
   }
 
-  // TODO(palla/prover-node) L1 contract addresses should not silently default to zero,
-  // they should be undefined if not set and fail loudly.
-  // Load l1 contract addresses from aztec node if not set.
-  const isRollupAddressSet =
-    proverConfig.l1Contracts?.rollupAddress && !proverConfig.l1Contracts.rollupAddress.isZero();
-  const nodeUrl = proverConfig.nodeUrl ?? proverConfig.proverCoordinationNodeUrl;
-  if (nodeUrl && !isRollupAddressSet) {
-    userLog(`Loading L1 contract addresses from aztec node at ${nodeUrl}`);
-    proverConfig.l1Contracts = await createAztecNodeClient(nodeUrl).getL1ContractAddresses();
+  if (!proverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress || proverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress.isZero()) {
+    throw new Error('L1 registry address is required to start a Prover Node with --archiver option');
   }
 
-  // If we create an archiver here, validate the L1 config
-  if (options.archiver) {
-    if (!proverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress || proverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress.isZero()) {
-      throw new Error('L1 registry address is required to start a Prover Node with --archiver option');
-    }
-    const { addresses, config } = await getL1Config(
-      proverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress,
-      proverConfig.l1RpcUrls,
-      proverConfig.l1ChainId,
-      proverConfig.rollupVersion,
-    );
-    proverConfig.l1Contracts = addresses;
-    proverConfig = { ...proverConfig, ...config };
-  }
+  const { addresses, config } = await getL1Config(
+    proverConfig.l1Contracts.registryAddress,
+    proverConfig.l1RpcUrls,
+    proverConfig.l1ChainId,
+    proverConfig.rollupVersion,
+  );
+  proverConfig.l1Contracts = addresses;
+  proverConfig = { ...proverConfig, ...config };
 
   const telemetry = initTelemetryClient(extractRelevantOptions(options, telemetryClientConfigMappings, 'tel'));