diff --git a/lib/glue.js b/lib/glue.js
index f136acc..b8ebfbf 100644
--- a/lib/glue.js
+++ b/lib/glue.js
@@ -47,44 +47,54 @@ function glue(infos, connections) {
    * @param {Event} ev
    */
   function onConnectingFailed(ev) {
-    infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, (prevStats) => ({
-      failure: (prevStats?.failure ?? 0) + 1,
-      stateChange: Date.now(),
-      duration: stats(prevStats?.duration, 0),
-    }))
+    if (!ev.multiaddr.startsWith('/tunnel/')) {
+      infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, (prevStats) => ({
+        failure: (prevStats?.failure ?? 0) + 1,
+        stateChange: Date.now(),
+        duration: stats(prevStats?.duration, 0),
+      }))
+    }
   }
 
   /**
    * @param {Event} ev
    */
   function onConnected(ev) {
-    infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, () => ({
-      stateChange: Date.now(),
-      failure: 0,
-    }))
-    if (ev.details.weAreClient) setupPing(ev.multiaddr, ev.details.rpc)
+    if (!ev.multiaddr.startsWith('/tunnel/')) {
+      infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, () => ({
+        stateChange: Date.now(),
+        failure: 0,
+      }))
+    }
+    if (ev.details.weAreClient) {
+      setupPing(ev.multiaddr, ev.details.rpc)
+    }
   }
 
   /**
    * @param {Event} ev
    */
   function bumpStateChange(ev) {
-    infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, () => ({
-      stateChange: Date.now(),
-    }))
+    if (!ev.multiaddr.startsWith('/tunnel/')) {
+      infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, () => ({
+        stateChange: Date.now(),
+      }))
+    }
   }
 
   /**
    * @param {Event} ev
    */
   function onDisconnected(ev) {
-    infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, (prevStats) => ({
-      stateChange: Date.now(),
-      duration: stats(
-        prevStats?.duration,
-        Date.now() - (prevStats?.stateChange ?? PROGRAM_STARTUP)
-      ),
-    }))
+    if (!ev.multiaddr.startsWith('/tunnel/')) {
+      infos.updateStats(ev.multiaddr, (prevStats) => ({
+        stateChange: Date.now(),
+        duration: stats(
+          prevStats?.duration,
+          Date.now() - (prevStats?.stateChange ?? PROGRAM_STARTUP)
+        ),
+      }))
+    }
   }
 
   pull(
diff --git a/lib/stats.js b/lib/stats.js
index 22f137d..77b2781 100644
--- a/lib/stats.js
+++ b/lib/stats.js
@@ -114,18 +114,15 @@ class Stats {
         return
       } else if (fileContents) {
         const vals = SelfHealingJSONCodec.decode(fileContents)
-        for (const [multiaddr, statsInfo] of Object.entries(vals)) {
-          this.#infos.update(/**@type {`/${string}`}*/ (multiaddr), {
-            stats: statsInfo,
-          })
+        for (const [multiaddr, stats] of Object.entries(vals)) {
+          this.#infos.update(/**@type {`/${string}`}*/ (multiaddr), { stats })
         }
         this.#loadedResolve(true)
-        debug('Loaded conn.json into ConnDB in memory')
+        debug(`Loaded existing ${Stats.FILENAME}`)
       } else {
         atomic.writeFile(this.#path, '{}', 'utf8', () => {})
         this.#loadedResolve(true)
-        // prettier-ignore
-        debug(`Created new ${Stats.FILENAME} because there was no existing one.`);
+        debug(`Created ${Stats.FILENAME} because there was none yet`)
         return
       }
     })
diff --git a/test/glue.test.js b/test/glue.test.js
index 0259651..3ad4bcc 100644
--- a/test/glue.test.js
+++ b/test/glue.test.js
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ const p = require('node:util').promisify
 const { createPeerMock } = require('./util')
 
 const PUBKEY = 'EqTMFv7zm8hpPyAkj789qdJgqtz81AEbcinpAs24RRUC'
+const PUBKEY2 = 'FqTMFv7zm8hpPyAkj789qdJgqtz81AEbcinpAs24RRUC'
 const TEST_ADDR = `/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/9752/shse/${PUBKEY}`
+const TEST_TUNNEL_ADDR = `/tunnel/${PUBKEY}.${PUBKEY2}/shse/${PUBKEY2}`
 
 test('Glueing together stats with connections', async (t) => {
   await t.test('stage() is ignored when peer already connected', async () => {
@@ -66,6 +68,25 @@ test('Glueing together stats with connections', async (t) => {
     assert.deepEqual(Object.keys(json[TEST_ADDR]), ['stateChange'])
   })
 
+  await t.test('tunnel connections are not stats-persisted', async (t) => {
+    const peer = createPeerMock()
+    const address = TEST_TUNNEL_ADDR
+
+    const entriesBefore = await p(peer.net.peers())(null)
+    assert.equal(entriesBefore.length, 0, 'there is no entry in peers()')
+
+    const rpc = await p(peer.net.connect)(address)
+    assert.ok(rpc, 'connect() successful')
+
+    const statsJSONPath = Path.join(peer.mockDir, 'net', './stats.json')
+    while (FS.existsSync(statsJSONPath) === false) {
+      await p(setTimeout)(1)
+    }
+    const fileContents = FS.readFileSync(statsJSONPath, 'utf8')
+    const json = JSON.parse(fileContents)
+    assert.deepEqual(Object.keys(json), [])
+  })
+
   await t.test('forget() will remove stats', async (t) => {
     const peer = createPeerMock()
     const address = TEST_ADDR