diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d09de1b..fcfcfcf 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+dev:
+  - clarify that --connection should be a URL
+
 1.15.0:
   - add --period to "synccommittee members", can be "current", "next"
   - add "validator expectation"
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 491c8bf..587d444 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ func init() {
 	if err := viper.BindPFlag("debug", RootCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("debug")); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
-	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("connection", "localhost:4000", "connection to an Ethereum 2 node")
+	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("connection", "http://localhost:3500", "URL to an Ethereum 2 node's RET API endpoint")
 	if err := viper.BindPFlag("connection", RootCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("connection")); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
diff --git a/util/beaconnode.go b/util/beaconnode.go
index 8997773..8174510 100644
--- a/util/beaconnode.go
+++ b/util/beaconnode.go
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ func ConnectToBeaconNode(ctx context.Context, address string, timeout time.Durat
 		return nil, errors.New("no timeout specified")
 	}
 
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(address, "http") {
+		address = fmt.Sprintf("http://%s", address)
+	}
 	if !allowInsecure {
 		// Ensure the connection is either secure or local.
 		connectionURL, err := url.Parse(address)