diff --git a/cmd/lit-af/lit-af.go b/cmd/lit-af/lit-af.go
index 03cc1f39b..2008990f1 100644
--- a/cmd/lit-af/lit-af.go
+++ b/cmd/lit-af/lit-af.go
@@ -163,6 +163,13 @@ func (lc *litAfClient) litAfSetup(conf litAfConfig) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			logging.Fatal(err.Error())
 		}
+	} else if len(adr) == 0 {
+		// so the user didn't provide us with an address to connect to
+		// we need to connect to the locally running lit-af instance
+		lc.RPCClient, err = litrpc.NewLocalLndcRpcClientWithHomeDirAndPort(defaultDir, port)
+		if err != nil {
+			logging.Fatal(err.Error())
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }