diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 8fe99a7..14f13ac 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.intel.jndn.mock</groupId>
   <artifactId>jndn-mock</artifactId>
-  <version>0.9.6</version>
+  <version>0.9.7</version>
   <name>jndn-mock</name>
   <description>Tools for testing NDN Java code without using network IO.</description>
   <url>https://github.com/01org/jndn-utils</url>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFace.java b/src/main/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFace.java
index e1a62de..6a9a11a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFace.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFace.java
@@ -497,6 +497,10 @@
   @Override
   public long registerPrefix(Name prefix, OnInterest onInterest, OnRegisterFailed onRegisterFailed,
           ForwardingFlags flags, WireFormat wireFormat) throws IOException, net.named_data.jndn.security.SecurityException {
+    // since we don't send an Interest, ensure the transport is connected
+    if (!getTransport().getIsConnected())
+      getTransport().connect(node_.getConnectionInfo(), node_);
+    
     lastRegisteredId++;
     handlerMap.put(lastRegisteredId, new MockOnInterestHandler(prefix, onInterest, flags));
     return lastRegisteredId;
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFaceTest.java b/src/test/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFaceTest.java
index 8c51a6e..6bbbdda 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFaceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/intel/jndn/mock/MockFaceTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import net.named_data.jndn.OnData;
 import net.named_data.jndn.OnInterest;
 import net.named_data.jndn.encoding.EncodingException;
+import net.named_data.jndn.security.SecurityException;
 import net.named_data.jndn.transport.Transport;
 import net.named_data.jndn.util.Blob;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -138,4 +139,18 @@
       return count;
     }
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Ensure registering a prefix connects the underlying transport
+   *
+   * @throws IOException
+   * @throws SecurityException
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testRegistrationConnectsTransport() throws IOException, SecurityException {
+    MockFace face = new MockFace();
+    assertFalse(face.getTransport().getIsConnected());
+    face.registerPrefix(new Name("/fake/prefix"), null, null);
+    assertTrue(face.getTransport().getIsConnected());
+  }
 }