diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index aca86dd..911eb4d 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@
       "justMyCode": true,
       "args": ["--debug", "--info"]
     },
+    {
+      "name": "meshtastic debug BLE",
+      "type": "python",
+      "request": "launch",
+      "module": "meshtastic",
+      "justMyCode": true,
+      "args": ["--debug", "--ble", "--info"]
+    },
     {
       "name": "meshtastic debug set region",
       "type": "python",
diff --git a/meshtastic/__main__.py b/meshtastic/__main__.py
index fa71adc..fb12a0c 100644
--- a/meshtastic/__main__.py
+++ b/meshtastic/__main__.py
@@ -1050,7 +1050,7 @@ def common():
                 meshtastic.util.our_exit("BLE scan finished", 0)
                 return
             elif args.ble:
-                client = BLEInterface(args.ble, debugOut=logfile, noProto=args.noproto, noNodes=args.no_nodes)
+                client = BLEInterface(args.ble_dest, debugOut=logfile, noProto=args.noproto, noNodes=args.no_nodes)
             elif args.host:
                 try:
                     client = meshtastic.tcp_interface.TCPInterface(
@@ -1119,6 +1119,12 @@ def addConnectionArgs(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> argparse.ArgumentParse
     group.add_argument(
         "--ble",
         help="The BLE device address or name to connect to",
+        action="store_true",
+    )
+
+    group.add_argument(
+        "--ble-dest",
+        help="The BLE device address or name to connect to",
         default=None,
     )
 
diff --git a/meshtastic/ble_interface.py b/meshtastic/ble_interface.py
index 1c12758..4b8ddeb 100644
--- a/meshtastic/ble_interface.py
+++ b/meshtastic/ble_interface.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import asyncio
 from threading import Thread, Event
 from typing import Optional
 
-from bleak import BleakScanner, BleakClient
+from bleak import BleakScanner, BleakClient, BLEDevice
 
 from meshtastic.mesh_interface import MeshInterface
 from meshtastic.util import our_exit
@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ class BLEInterface(MeshInterface):
     def __init__(self, address: Optional[str], noProto: bool = False, debugOut = None, noNodes: bool = False):
         self.state = BLEInterface.BLEState()
 
-        if not address:
-            return
-
         self.should_read = False
 
         logging.debug("Threads starting")
@@ -54,10 +51,9 @@ class BLEInterface(MeshInterface):
             self.client = self.connect(address)
             self.state.BLE = True
             logging.debug("BLE connected")
-        except BLEInterface.BLEError as e:
+        # except BLEInterface.BLEError as e:
+        finally:
             self.close()
-            our_exit(e.message, 1)
-            return
 
         logging.debug("Mesh init starting")
         MeshInterface.__init__(self, debugOut = debugOut, noProto = noProto, noNodes = noNodes)
@@ -78,33 +74,35 @@ class BLEInterface(MeshInterface):
         self.should_read = True
 
 
-    def scan(self):
-        "Scan for available BLE devices"
+    def scan(self) -> list[BLEDevice]:
+        """Scan for available BLE devices."""
         with BLEClient() as client:
-            return [
-                (x[0], x[1]) for x in (client.discover(
+            response = client.discover(
                     return_adv = True,
-                    service_uuids = [ SERVICE_UUID ]
-                )).values()
-            ]
+                    service_uuids=[SERVICE_UUID]
+                )
+
+            devices = response.values()
+
+            # bleak sometimes returns devices we didn't ask for, so filter the response
+            # to only return true meshtastic devices
+            # d[0] is the device. d[1] is the advertisement data
+            devices = list(filter(lambda d: SERVICE_UUID in d[1].service_uuids, devices))
+            return list(map(lambda d: d[0], devices))
 
 
-    def find_device(self, address):
-        "Find a device by address"
-        meshtastic_devices = self.scan()
+    def find_device(self, address: Optional[str]) -> BLEDevice:
+        """Find a device by address"""
+        addressed_devices = self.scan()
 
-        addressed_devices = list(filter(lambda x: address in (x[1].local_name, x[0].name), meshtastic_devices))
-        # If nothing is found try on the address
-        if len(addressed_devices) == 0:
-            addressed_devices = list(filter(
-                lambda x: BLEInterface._sanitize_address(address) == BLEInterface._sanitize_address(x[0].address),
-                meshtastic_devices))
+        if address:
+            addressed_devices = list(filter(lambda x: address == x.name or address == x.address, addressed_devices))
 
         if len(addressed_devices) == 0:
             raise BLEInterface.BLEError(f"No Meshtastic BLE peripheral with identifier or address '{address}' found. Try --ble-scan to find it.")
         if len(addressed_devices) > 1:
             raise BLEInterface.BLEError(f"More than one Meshtastic BLE peripheral with identifier or address '{address}' found.")
-        return addressed_devices[0][0]
+        return addressed_devices[0]
 
     def _sanitize_address(address): # pylint: disable=E0213
         "Standardize BLE address by removing extraneous characters and lowercasing"