diff --git a/control/controlhttp/client.go b/control/controlhttp/client.go
index c9db75025..62bdce556 100644
--- a/control/controlhttp/client.go
+++ b/control/controlhttp/client.go
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ const (
 	// payload, to save an RTT.
 	handshakeHeaderName = "X-Tailscale-Handshake"
 
+	// serverPubHeaderName is the HTTP request header that
+	// says the expected public key of the control plane.
+	serverPubHeaderName = "X-Tailscale-Control-Public"
+
 	// serverUpgradePath is where the server-side HTTP handler to
 	// to do the protocol switch is located.
 	serverUpgradePath = "/ts2021"
@@ -194,6 +198,7 @@ func (a *dialParams) tryURL(u *url.URL, init []byte) (net.Conn, error) {
 			"Upgrade":           []string{upgradeHeaderValue},
 			"Connection":        []string{"upgrade"},
 			handshakeHeaderName: []string{base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(init)},
+			serverPubHeaderName: []string{a.controlKey.String()},
 		},
 	}
 	req = req.WithContext(ctx)
diff --git a/control/controlhttp/server.go b/control/controlhttp/server.go
index 92bd9ec9b..a446a0ebc 100644
--- a/control/controlhttp/server.go
+++ b/control/controlhttp/server.go
@@ -44,6 +44,18 @@ func AcceptHTTP(ctx context.Context, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, pri
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("decoding base64 handshake header: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	if wantPub := r.Header.Get(serverPubHeaderName); wantPub != "" {
+		// If the client declared the public key they expect to speak to,
+		// check it.
+		// TODO: replace the 'private' parameter with a func/interface
+		// that looks up the private key as a function of the public key
+		// to see if we have a currently in-rotation key that's valid.
+		if private.Public().String() != wantPub {
+			http.Error(w, "requested server key unavailable", http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+			return nil, errors.New("client requested unavailble server key")
+		}
+	}
+
 	hijacker, ok := w.(http.Hijacker)
 	if !ok {
 		http.Error(w, "make request over HTTP/1", http.StatusBadRequest)