diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ce6f2f6dd..47528bce9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ key types that can be used by validators.
     - keep accums averaged near 0
 - [types] [\#2941](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/2941) Preserve val.Accum during ValidatorSet.Update to avoid it being
   reset to 0 every time a validator is updated
+- [p2p] \#2968 Panic on transport error rather than continuing to run but not
+  accept new connections
 
 ## v0.26.4
 
diff --git a/p2p/switch.go b/p2p/switch.go
index 4996ebd91..eece71316 100644
--- a/p2p/switch.go
+++ b/p2p/switch.go
@@ -505,6 +505,12 @@ func (sw *Switch) acceptRoutine() {
 					"err", err,
 					"numPeers", sw.peers.Size(),
 				)
+				// We could instead have a retry loop around the acceptRoutine,
+				// but that would need to stop and let the node shutdown eventually.
+				// So might as well panic and let process managers restart the node.
+				// There's no point in letting the node run without the acceptRoutine,
+				// since it won't be able to accept new connections.
+				panic(fmt.Errorf("accept routine exited: %v", err))
 			}
 
 			break