diff --git a/engine/engine.go b/engine/engine.go
index 33a28dd7..74d06c3e 100644
--- a/engine/engine.go
+++ b/engine/engine.go
@@ -332,6 +332,12 @@ func (e *Engine) apiGood() bool {
 		log.Errorw("could not query api for datacap", "error", err)
 		return false
 	}
+	log.Infow("local datacap", "datacap", localCap)
+
+	if e.nodeConfig.MinWalletCap.Int64() < 0 {
+		return true
+	}
+
 	if localCap == nil {
 		return e.nodeConfig.MinWalletCap.NilOrZero()
 	}
diff --git a/lotus/client.go b/lotus/client.go
index 89931ecd..e030e079 100644
--- a/lotus/client.go
+++ b/lotus/client.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func SetupClientFromCLI(cctx *cli.Context) (tasks.NodeConfig, api.FullNode, Node
 			return tasks.NodeConfig{}, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("could not parse min wallet balance: %s, %s", cctx.String("minfil"), err)
 		}
 	}
-	mc := big.NewInt(0)
+	mc := big.NewInt(-1)
 	if cctx.IsSet("mincap") {
 		log.Infow("using minimum wallet datacap for picking tasks", cctx.String("mincap"))
 		if _, ok := mf.SetString(cctx.String("mincap"), 0); !ok {