diff --git a/gateway/Cargo.toml b/gateway/Cargo.toml
index 2159be97b6..3e091e7898 100644
--- a/gateway/Cargo.toml
+++ b/gateway/Cargo.toml
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ nym-statistics-common = { path = "../common/statistics" }
 nym-task = { path = "../common/task" }
 nym-types = { path = "../common/types" }
 nym-validator-client = { path = "../common/client-libs/validator-client" }
-nym-wireguard = { path = "../common/wireguard", optional = true }
+nym-wireguard = { path = "../common/wireguard" }
 nym-ip-packet-router = { path = "../service-providers/ip-packet-router" }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
@@ -92,7 +92,3 @@ sqlx = { version = "0.5", features = [
     "macros",
     "migrate",
 ] }
-
-[features]
-default = ["wireguard"]
-wireguard = ["nym-wireguard"]
diff --git a/gateway/src/node/mod.rs b/gateway/src/node/mod.rs
index 70fef57868..56017e992b 100644
--- a/gateway/src/node/mod.rs
+++ b/gateway/src/node/mod.rs
@@ -200,7 +200,6 @@ impl<St> Gateway<St> {
         mixnet_handling::Listener::new(listening_address, shutdown).start(connection_handler);
     }
 
-    #[cfg(feature = "wireguard")]
     async fn start_wireguard(
         &self,
         shutdown: TaskClient,
@@ -520,20 +519,17 @@ impl<St> Gateway<St> {
             Arc::new(coconut_verifier),
         );
 
-        #[cfg(feature = "wireguard")]
-        {
-            let wireguard_enabled = std::env::var("NYM_ENABLE_WIREGUARD")
-                .map(|v| v == "1")
-                .unwrap_or(false);
-
-            if wireguard_enabled {
-                if let Err(err) = self
-                    .start_wireguard(shutdown.subscribe().named("wireguard"))
-                    .await
-                {
-                    // that's a nasty workaround, but anyhow errors are generally nicer, especially on exit
-                    bail!("{err}")
-                }
+        // TODO: later we'll make this a commandline flag
+        let wireguard_enabled = std::env::var("NYM_ENABLE_WIREGUARD")
+            .map(|v| v == "1")
+            .unwrap_or(false);
+        if wireguard_enabled {
+            if let Err(err) = self
+                .start_wireguard(shutdown.subscribe().named("wireguard"))
+                .await
+            {
+                // that's a nasty workaround, but anyhow errors are generally nicer, especially on exit
+                bail!("{err}")
             }
         }