diff --git a/cluster/service_mux_test.go b/cluster/service_mux_test.go
index 1de7ec28..7b68562d 100644
--- a/cluster/service_mux_test.go
+++ b/cluster/service_mux_test.go
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ func mustNewTLSMux() (net.Listener, *tcp.Mux) {
 	key := x509.KeyFile("")
 	defer os.Remove(key)
 
-	mux, err := tcp.NewTLSMux(ln, nil, cert, key, "", true)
+	mux, err := tcp.NewTLSMux(ln, nil, cert, key, "", true, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("failed to create TLS mux: %s", err))
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/rqlited/flags.go b/cmd/rqlited/flags.go
index 9fba8b5d..f0a1904c 100644
--- a/cmd/rqlited/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/rqlited/flags.go
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	// NoNodeVerify disables checking other nodes' Node X509 certs for validity.
 	NoNodeVerify bool
 
+	// NodeVerifyClient indicates whether a node should verify client certificates from
+	// other nodes.
+	NodeVerifyClient bool
+
 	// NodeID is the Raft ID for the node.
 	NodeID string
 
@@ -380,6 +384,7 @@ func ParseFlags(name, desc string, build *BuildInfo) (*Config, error) {
 	flag.StringVar(&config.NodeX509Cert, "node-cert", "", "Path to X.509 certificate for node-to-node mutual authentication and encryption")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.NodeX509Key, "node-key", "", "Path to X.509 private key for node-to-node mutual authentication and encryption")
 	flag.BoolVar(&config.NoNodeVerify, "node-no-verify", false, "Skip verification of any node-node certificate")
+	flag.BoolVar(&config.NodeVerifyClient, "node-verify-client", false, "Enable mutual TLS for node-to-node communication")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.AuthFile, "auth", "", "Path to authentication and authorization file. If not set, not enabled")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.RaftAddr, RaftAddrFlag, "localhost:4002", "Raft communication bind address")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.RaftAdv, RaftAdvAddrFlag, "", "Advertised Raft communication address. If not set, same as Raft bind")
diff --git a/cmd/rqlited/main.go b/cmd/rqlited/main.go
index 4c79fe4c..5d6abc2b 100644
--- a/cmd/rqlited/main.go
+++ b/cmd/rqlited/main.go
@@ -283,17 +283,19 @@ func startNodeMux(cfg *Config, ln net.Listener) (*tcp.Mux, error) {
 	var mux *tcp.Mux
 	if cfg.NodeX509Cert != "" {
 		var b strings.Builder
-		b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("enabling node-to-node encryption with cert: %s, key: %s", cfg.NodeX509Cert, cfg.NodeX509Key))
+		b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("enabling node-to-node encryption with cert: %s, key: %s",
+			cfg.NodeX509Cert, cfg.NodeX509Key))
 		if cfg.NodeX509CACert != "" {
 			b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(", CA cert %s", cfg.NodeX509CACert))
 		}
-		if cfg.NoNodeVerify {
-			b.WriteString(", client verification disabled")
+		if cfg.NodeVerifyClient {
+			b.WriteString(", mutual TLS disabled")
 		} else {
-			b.WriteString(", client verification enabled")
+			b.WriteString(", mutual TLS enabled")
 		}
 		log.Println(b.String())
-		mux, err = tcp.NewTLSMux(ln, adv, cfg.NodeX509Cert, cfg.NodeX509Key, cfg.NodeX509CACert, cfg.NoNodeVerify)
+		mux, err = tcp.NewTLSMux(ln, adv, cfg.NodeX509Cert, cfg.NodeX509Key, cfg.NodeX509CACert,
+			cfg.NoNodeVerify, cfg.NodeVerifyClient)
 	} else {
 		mux, err = tcp.NewMux(ln, adv)
 	}
diff --git a/http/service.go b/http/service.go
index 7424c828..71a12ec2 100644
--- a/http/service.go
+++ b/http/service.go
@@ -339,9 +339,9 @@ func (s *Service) Start() error {
 			b.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(", CA cert %s", s.CACertFile))
 		}
 		if s.ClientVerify {
-			b.WriteString(", client verification enabled")
+			b.WriteString(", mutual TLS enabled")
 		} else {
-			b.WriteString(", client verification disabled")
+			b.WriteString(", mutual disabled")
 		}
 		// print the message
 		s.logger.Println(b.String())
diff --git a/rtls/config.go b/rtls/config.go
index 6b380e02..2523d972 100644
--- a/rtls/config.go
+++ b/rtls/config.go
@@ -6,15 +6,15 @@ import (
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"fmt"
-	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 )
 
 // CreateClientConfig creates a TLS configuration for use by a system that does both
 // client and server authentication using the same cert, key, and CA cert. If noverify
-// is true, the client will not verify the server's certificate and the server will not
-// verify the client's certificate. If tls1011 is true, the client will accept TLS 1.0
-// or 1.1. Otherwise, it will require TLS 1.2 or higher.
-func CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, caCertFile string, noverify, tls1011 bool) (*tls.Config, error) {
+// is true, the client will not verify the server's certificate. If mutual is true,
+// the server will verify the client's certificate. If tls1011 is true, the client will
+// accept TLS 1.0 or 1.1. Otherwise, it will require TLS 1.2 or higher.
+func CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, caCertFile string, noverify, mutual, tls1011 bool) (*tls.Config, error) {
 	var err error
 	config := createBaseTLSConfig(noverify, tls1011)
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, caCertFile string, noverify, tls1011 bool)
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load CA certificate(s) for client verification in %q", caCertFile)
 		}
 	}
-	if !noverify {
+	if mutual {
 		config.ClientAuth = tls.RequireAndVerifyClientCert
 	}
 	return config, nil
diff --git a/rtls/config_test.go b/rtls/config_test.go
index e8ee7976..5fa66305 100644
--- a/rtls/config_test.go
+++ b/rtls/config_test.go
@@ -25,14 +25,17 @@ func Test_CreateConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	caCertFile := mustWriteTempFile(t, caCertPEM)
 
-	// create a config with no client verification
-	config, err := CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, caCertFile, true, false)
+	// create a config with no server or client verification
+	config, err := CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, caCertFile, true, false, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create config: %v", err)
 	}
 	if config.ClientAuth != tls.NoClientCert {
 		t.Fatalf("expected ClientAuth to be NoClientCert, got %v", config.ClientAuth)
 	}
+	if !config.InsecureSkipVerify {
+		t.Fatalf("expected InsecureSkipVerify to be true, got false")
+	}
 
 	// Check that the certificate is loaded correctly
 	if len(config.Certificates) != 1 {
@@ -65,14 +68,29 @@ func Test_CreateConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected client CA to be %v, got %v", caCertPool, config.ClientCAs)
 	}
 
-	// create a config with client verification
-	config, err = CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, "", false, false)
+	// create a config with server cert verification only
+	config, err = CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, caCertFile, false, false, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create config: %v", err)
+	}
+	if config.ClientAuth != tls.NoClientCert {
+		t.Fatalf("expected ClientAuth to be NoClientCert, got %v", config.ClientAuth)
+	}
+	if config.InsecureSkipVerify {
+		t.Fatalf("expected InsecureSkipVerify to be false, got true")
+	}
+
+	// create a config with both server and client verification
+	config, err = CreateConfig(certFile, keyFile, "", false, true, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create config: %v", err)
 	}
 	if config.ClientAuth != tls.RequireAndVerifyClientCert {
 		t.Fatalf("expected ClientAuth to be RequireAndVerifyClientCert, got %v", config.ClientAuth)
 	}
+	if config.InsecureSkipVerify {
+		t.Fatalf("expected InsecureSkipVerify to be false, got true")
+	}
 }
 
 func Test_CreateServerConfig(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/system_test/helpers.go b/system_test/helpers.go
index e6a3343c..8c321a50 100644
--- a/system_test/helpers.go
+++ b/system_test/helpers.go
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ func mustNewOpenTLSMux(certFile, keyPath, addr string) *tcp.Mux {
 	}
 
 	var mux *tcp.Mux
-	mux, err = tcp.NewTLSMux(ln, nil, certFile, keyPath, "", true)
+	mux, err = tcp.NewTLSMux(ln, nil, certFile, keyPath, "", true, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("failed to create node-to-node mux: %s", err.Error()))
 	}
diff --git a/tcp/mux.go b/tcp/mux.go
index ef68938e..1887e326 100644
--- a/tcp/mux.go
+++ b/tcp/mux.go
@@ -94,14 +94,16 @@ func NewMux(ln net.Listener, adv net.Addr) (*Mux, error) {
 }
 
 // NewTLSMux returns a new instance of Mux for ln, and encrypts all traffic
-// using TLS. If adv is nil, then the addr of ln is used.
-func NewTLSMux(ln net.Listener, adv net.Addr, cert, key, caCert string, insecure bool) (*Mux, error) {
+// using TLS. If adv is nil, then the addr of ln is used. If insecure is true,
+// then the server will not verify the client's certificate. If mutual is true,
+// then the server will require the client to present a trusted certificate.
+func NewTLSMux(ln net.Listener, adv net.Addr, cert, key, caCert string, insecure, mutual bool) (*Mux, error) {
 	mux, err := NewMux(ln, adv)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	mux.tlsConfig, err = rtls.CreateConfig(cert, key, caCert, insecure, false)
+	mux.tlsConfig, err = rtls.CreateConfig(cert, key, caCert, insecure, mutual, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot create TLS config: %s", err)
 	}
diff --git a/tcp/mux_test.go b/tcp/mux_test.go
index 7c12086e..ebaf37f4 100644
--- a/tcp/mux_test.go
+++ b/tcp/mux_test.go
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func TestTLSMux(t *testing.T) {
 	key := x509.KeyFile("")
 	defer os.Remove(key)
 
-	mux, err := NewTLSMux(tcpListener, nil, cert, key, "", true)
+	mux, err := NewTLSMux(tcpListener, nil, cert, key, "", true, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to create mux: %s", err.Error())
 	}
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ func TestTLSMux(t *testing.T) {
 func TestTLSMux_Fail(t *testing.T) {
 	tcpListener := mustTCPListener("127.0.0.1:0")
 	defer tcpListener.Close()
-	_, err := NewTLSMux(tcpListener, nil, "xxxx", "yyyy", "", true)
+	_, err := NewTLSMux(tcpListener, nil, "xxxx", "yyyy", "", true, false)
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatalf("created mux unexpectedly with bad resources")
 	}