diff --git a/beacon-chain/main.go b/beacon-chain/main.go
index 81cfa7490a..84de0bd3a1 100644
--- a/beacon-chain/main.go
+++ b/beacon-chain/main.go
@@ -127,7 +127,9 @@ func main() {
 			}
 		}
 
-		runtimeDebug.SetGCPercent(ctx.GlobalInt(flags.SetGCPercent.Name))
+		if ctx.IsSet(flags.SetGCPercent.Name) {
+			runtimeDebug.SetGCPercent(ctx.GlobalInt(flags.SetGCPercent.Name))
+		}
 		runtime.GOMAXPROCS(runtime.NumCPU())
 		return debug.Setup(ctx)
 	}