diff --git a/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp b/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp
index 32ffd626e8..7907d8679f 100644
--- a/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp
+++ b/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp
@@ -2267,6 +2267,7 @@ void DomainServer::updateDownstreamNodes() {
                         // manually add the downstream node to our node list
                         auto node = nodeList->addOrUpdateNode(QUuid::createUuid(), downstreamNodeType,
                                                               downstreamServerAddr, downstreamServerAddr);
+                        node->setIsForcedAlive(true);
 
                         qDebug() << "Adding downstream node:" << node->getUUID() << downstreamServerAddr;
 
diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/LimitedNodeList.cpp b/libraries/networking/src/LimitedNodeList.cpp
index 9c0754cf26..994b5305e6 100644
--- a/libraries/networking/src/LimitedNodeList.cpp
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/LimitedNodeList.cpp
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ void LimitedNodeList::removeSilentNodes() {
         SharedNodePointer node = it->second;
         node->getMutex().lock();
 
-        if (!NodeType::isDownstream(node->getType())
+        if (!node->isForcedAlive()
             && (usecTimestampNow() - node->getLastHeardMicrostamp()) > (NODE_SILENCE_THRESHOLD_MSECS * USECS_PER_MSEC)) {
             // call the NodeHash erase to get rid of this node
             it = _nodeHash.unsafe_erase(it);
diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/NetworkPeer.h b/libraries/networking/src/NetworkPeer.h
index 7185ffef29..ad7076285f 100644
--- a/libraries/networking/src/NetworkPeer.h
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/NetworkPeer.h
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@ public:
     float getOutboundBandwidth() const; // in kbps
     float getInboundBandwidth() const; // in kbps
 
+    bool isForcedAlive() const { return _isForcedAlive; }
+    void setIsForcedAlive(bool isForcedAlive) { _isForcedAlive = isForcedAlive; }
+
     friend QDataStream& operator<<(QDataStream& out, const NetworkPeer& peer);
     friend QDataStream& operator>>(QDataStream& in, NetworkPeer& peer);
 public slots:
@@ -103,6 +106,8 @@ protected:
     QTimer* _pingTimer = NULL;
 
     int _connectionAttempts;
+
+    bool _isForcedAlive { false };
 };
 
 QDebug operator<<(QDebug debug, const NetworkPeer &peer);
diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/NodeList.cpp b/libraries/networking/src/NodeList.cpp
index 80576f473a..179b6e202d 100644
--- a/libraries/networking/src/NodeList.cpp
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/NodeList.cpp
@@ -668,6 +668,11 @@ void NodeList::parseNodeFromPacketStream(QDataStream& packetStream) {
 
     SharedNodePointer node = addOrUpdateNode(nodeUUID, nodeType, nodePublicSocket,
                                              nodeLocalSocket, permissions, isReplicated, connectionUUID);
+
+    // nodes that are downstream of our own type are kept alive when we hear about them from the domain server
+    if (node->getType() == NodeType::downstreamType(_ownerType)) {
+        node->setLastHeardMicrostamp(usecTimestampNow());
+    }
 }
 
 void NodeList::sendAssignment(Assignment& assignment) {