diff --git a/testutil/network/network.go b/testutil/network/network.go
index 183f984a91..701210d914 100644
--- a/testutil/network/network.go
+++ b/testutil/network/network.go
@@ -354,7 +354,8 @@ func New(t *testing.T, cfg Config) *Network {
 			WithCodec(cfg.Codec).
 			WithLegacyAmino(cfg.LegacyAmino).
 			WithTxConfig(cfg.TxConfig).
-			WithAccountRetriever(cfg.AccountRetriever)
+			WithAccountRetriever(cfg.AccountRetriever).
+			WithNodeURI(tmCfg.RPC.ListenAddress)
 
 		network.Validators[i] = &Validator{
 			AppConfig:  appCfg,
@@ -380,6 +381,14 @@ func New(t *testing.T, cfg Config) *Network {
 	}
 	t.Log("started test network")
 
+	require.NoError(t, network.WaitForNextBlock())
+	height, err := network.LatestHeight()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	t.Log("started test network at height:", height)
+
 	// Ensure we cleanup incase any test was abruptly halted (e.g. SIGINT) as any
 	// defer in a test would not be called.
 	server.TrapSignal(network.Cleanup)