diff --git a/.changelog/5476.bugfix.md b/.changelog/5476.bugfix.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4e6aea1eb94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5476.bugfix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+go/p2p/discovery: Close only idle connections to seed node
diff --git a/go/p2p/discovery/bootstrap/client.go b/go/p2p/discovery/bootstrap/client.go
index 61d31c6449a..6e8f3c1424e 100644
--- a/go/p2p/discovery/bootstrap/client.go
+++ b/go/p2p/discovery/bootstrap/client.go
@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ func (c *client) Advertise(ctx context.Context, ns string, _ ...discovery.Option
 
 	pf.RecordSuccess()
 
-	// Close connections after every call because requests to the seed node are infrequent.
-	if err = c.rc.Close(c.seed.ID); err != nil {
-		c.logger.Warn("failed to close connections to seed node",
+	// Try to close connections after every call because requests to the seed node are infrequent.
+	if err = c.rc.CloseIdle(c.seed.ID); err != nil {
+		c.logger.Warn("failed to close idle connections to seed node",
 			"err", err,
 		)
 	}
@@ -246,9 +246,9 @@ func (c *client) fetchPeers(ctx context.Context, ns string, limit int) []peer.Ad
 		pf.RecordFailure()
 	}
 
-	// Close connections after every call because requests to the seed node are infrequent.
-	if err := c.rc.Close(c.seed.ID); err != nil {
-		c.logger.Warn("failed to close connections to seed node",
+	// Try to close connections after every call because requests to the seed node are infrequent.
+	if err = c.rc.CloseIdle(c.seed.ID); err != nil {
+		c.logger.Warn("failed to close idle connections to seed node",
 			"err", err,
 		)
 	}
diff --git a/go/p2p/rpc/client.go b/go/p2p/rpc/client.go
index 195a0fbeaa1..f9af4cd0c94 100644
--- a/go/p2p/rpc/client.go
+++ b/go/p2p/rpc/client.go
@@ -256,6 +256,9 @@ type Client interface {
 	// Close closes all connections to the given peer.
 	Close(peerID core.PeerID) error
 
+	// CloseIdle closes all connections to the given peer that have no open streams.
+	CloseIdle(peerID core.PeerID) error
+
 	// RegisterListener subscribes the listener to the client notification events.
 	// If the listener is already registered this is a noop operation.
 	RegisterListener(l ClientListener)
@@ -545,6 +548,19 @@ func (c *client) Close(peerID core.PeerID) error {
 	return errs
 }
 
+// Implements Client.
+func (c *client) CloseIdle(peerID core.PeerID) error {
+	var errs error
+	for _, conn := range c.host.Network().ConnsToPeer(peerID) {
+		if len(conn.GetStreams()) > 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		err := conn.Close()
+		errs = errors.Join(errs, err)
+	}
+	return errs
+}
+
 // Implements Client.
 func (c *client) RegisterListener(l ClientListener) {
 	c.listeners.Lock()
diff --git a/go/p2p/rpc/nop.go b/go/p2p/rpc/nop.go
index d38842a83f9..68212434aa1 100644
--- a/go/p2p/rpc/nop.go
+++ b/go/p2p/rpc/nop.go
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ func (c *nopClient) Close(
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Implements Client.
+func (c *nopClient) CloseIdle(
+	peer.ID,
+) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Implements Client.
 func (c *nopClient) RegisterListener(ClientListener) {}