diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index fbaf6b3500f8d0..4c4296aa1839e9 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2596,7 +2596,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "log",
  "openssl",
  "prost-types 0.12.3",
- "reqwest",
  "solana-address-lookup-table-program",
  "solana-client",
  "solana-core",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8c22a443bd09f6..36929b8eedbe7e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ protobuf-src = "1.1.0"
 quinn = "0.9"
 rand = "0.8.5"
 rayon = "1.7.0"
-reqwest = "0.11.16"
 rustls = { version = "0.20", features = ["dangerous_configuration"] }
 serde = { version = "1.0.160", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.96"
diff --git a/transaction-relayer/Cargo.toml b/transaction-relayer/Cargo.toml
index e43e3091887307..8cce8b3e07039e 100644
--- a/transaction-relayer/Cargo.toml
+++ b/transaction-relayer/Cargo.toml
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ jwt = { workspace = true }
 log = { workspace = true }
 openssl = { workspace = true }
 prost-types = { workspace = true }
-reqwest = { workspace = true }
 solana-address-lookup-table-program = { workspace = true }
 solana-client = { workspace = true }
 solana-core = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/transaction-relayer/src/main.rs b/transaction-relayer/src/main.rs
index c39739d255bf20..5038a485101e21 100644
--- a/transaction-relayer/src/main.rs
+++ b/transaction-relayer/src/main.rs
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@ struct Args {
     )]
     websocket_servers: Vec<String>,
 
+    #[arg(long, env, default_value = "entrypoint.mainnet-beta.solana.com:8001")]
+    entrypoint_address: String,
+
     /// This is the IP address that will be shared with the validator. The validator will
     /// tell the rest of the network to send packets here.
     #[arg(long, env)]
@@ -253,13 +256,15 @@ fn main() {
     let public_ip = if args.public_ip.is_some() {
         args.public_ip.unwrap()
     } else {
-        info!("reading public ip from ifconfig.me...");
-        let response = reqwest::blocking::get("https://ifconfig.me")
-            .expect("response from ifconfig.me")
-            .text()
-            .expect("public ip response");
-        response.parse().unwrap()
+        let entrypoint = solana_net_utils::parse_host_port(args.entrypoint_address.as_str())
+            .expect("parse entrypoint");
+        info!(
+            "Contacting {} to determine the validator's public IP address",
+            entrypoint
+        );
+        solana_net_utils::get_public_ip_addr(&entrypoint).expect("get public ip address")
     };
+
     info!("public ip: {:?}", public_ip);
     assert!(
         public_ip.is_ipv4(),