diff --git a/contrib/startup_regtest.sh b/contrib/startup_regtest.sh
index ddf6e33fb1b4..9213a2dafe85 100755
--- a/contrib/startup_regtest.sh
+++ b/contrib/startup_regtest.sh
@@ -62,8 +62,13 @@ if [ -z "$PATH_TO_BITCOIN" ]; then
 fi
 
 wait_for_lightningd() {
+	if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+		node_count=2
+	else
+		node_count=$1
+	fi
 	for i in $(seq "5"); do
-		if $LCLI --lightning-dir=/tmp/l1-"$network" getinfo > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+		if $LCLI --lightning-dir=/tmp/l"$node_count"-"$network" getinfo > /dev/null 2>&1; then
 			break
 		else
 			sleep 1
@@ -118,7 +123,6 @@ start_nodes() {
 		log-file=/tmp/l$i-$network/log
 		addr=localhost:$socket
 		allow-deprecated-apis=false
-		clnrest-port=$((3109+i))
 		EOF
 
 		# If we've configured to use developer, add dev options
@@ -141,6 +145,10 @@ start_nodes() {
 			EOF
 		fi
 
+		# If clnrest loads, add the port so it will run
+		if [ -n "$ACTIVATE_CLNREST" ]; then
+			echo "clnrest-port=$((3109+i))" >> "/tmp/l$i-$network/config"
+		fi
 
 		# Start the lightning nodes
 		test -f "/tmp/l$i-$network/lightningd-$network.pid" || \
@@ -195,17 +203,19 @@ start_ln() {
 	else
 		nodes="$1"
 	fi
+	# Are the clnrest dependencies installed?
+	if timeout 2 python3 plugins/clnrest/clnrest.py > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+		ACTIVATE_CLNREST=1
+	fi
 	start_nodes "$nodes" regtest
 	echo "	bt-cli, stop_ln, fund_nodes"
-	wait_for_lightningd
+	wait_for_lightningd "$nodes"
 	active_status=$(clnrest_status "/tmp/l$i-$network/log")
-	if [ "$active_status" = "active" ] ; then
+	if [ -n "$ACTIVATE_CLNREST" ] && [ "$active_status" = "active" ] ; then
 		node_info regtest
 	elif [ "$active_status" = "disabled" ]; then
 		echo "clnrest is disabled. Try installing python developer dependencies"
 		echo "with 'poetry install'"
-	else
-		echo "timed out parsing log /tmp/l$i-$network/log"
 	fi
 }