diff --git a/bin/reth/src/args/secret_key.rs b/bin/reth/src/args/secret_key.rs
index c449a00878b..ea2aca7f46f 100644
--- a/bin/reth/src/args/secret_key.rs
+++ b/bin/reth/src/args/secret_key.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub fn get_secret_key(secret_key_path: &Path) -> Result<SecretKey, SecretKeyErro
         Ok(false) => {
             if let Some(dir) = secret_key_path.parent() {
                 // Create parent directory
-                std::fs::create_dir_all(dir)?
+                std::fs::create_dir_all(dir)?;
             }
 
             let secret = rng_secret_key();
diff --git a/bin/reth/src/node/mod.rs b/bin/reth/src/node/mod.rs
index bc416e3a90e..1e55f57b685 100644
--- a/bin/reth/src/node/mod.rs
+++ b/bin/reth/src/node/mod.rs
@@ -229,9 +229,19 @@ impl Command {
         }
 
         info!(target: "reth::cli", "Connecting to P2P network");
+        let secret_key_path = self.p2p_secret_key.clone().unwrap_or_default();
         let default_secret_key_path = data_dir.p2p_secret_path();
+
+        let mut secret_key_path = secret_key_path.as_path();
+        if secret_key_path.to_str() == Some("") {
+            secret_key_path = default_secret_key_path.as_path();
+        }
+
         let default_peers_path = data_dir.known_peers_path();
-        let secret_key = get_secret_key(&default_secret_key_path)?;
+
+        info!(target: "reth::cli", path = secret_key_path.to_str(), "Loading p2p-secret-key");
+        let secret_key = get_secret_key(secret_key_path)?;
+
         let network_config = self.load_network_config(
             &config,
             Arc::clone(&db),