diff --git a/floodsub.go b/floodsub.go
index 4c943bb..359886a 100644
--- a/floodsub.go
+++ b/floodsub.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func (fs *FloodSubRouter) AcceptFrom(peer.ID) AcceptStatus {
 	return AcceptAll
 }
 
-func (fs *FloodSubRouter) PreValidation(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message) {}
+func (fs *FloodSubRouter) Preprocess(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message) {}
 
 func (fs *FloodSubRouter) HandleRPC(rpc *RPC) {}
 
diff --git a/gossipsub.go b/gossipsub.go
index b5a605a..3b52efe 100644
--- a/gossipsub.go
+++ b/gossipsub.go
@@ -707,10 +707,10 @@ func (gs *GossipSubRouter) AcceptFrom(p peer.ID) AcceptStatus {
 	return gs.gate.AcceptFrom(p)
 }
 
-// PreValidation sends the IDONTWANT control messages to all the mesh
+// Preprocess sends the IDONTWANT control messages to all the mesh
 // peers. They need to be sent right before the validation because they
 // should be seen by the peers as soon as possible.
-func (gs *GossipSubRouter) PreValidation(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message) {
+func (gs *GossipSubRouter) Preprocess(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message) {
 	tmids := make(map[string][]string)
 	for _, msg := range msgs {
 		if len(msg.GetData()) < gs.params.IDontWantMessageThreshold {
diff --git a/gossipsub_test.go b/gossipsub_test.go
index 72188be..2231352 100644
--- a/gossipsub_test.go
+++ b/gossipsub_test.go
@@ -2847,7 +2847,7 @@ var _ RawTracer = &mockRawTracer{}
 func TestGossipsubNoIDONTWANTToMessageSender(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	defer cancel()
-	hosts := getDefaultHosts(t, 3)
+	hosts := getDefaultHosts(t, 2)
 	denseConnect(t, hosts)
 
 	psubs := make([]*PubSub, 2)
@@ -2886,6 +2886,67 @@ func TestGossipsubNoIDONTWANTToMessageSender(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("IDONTWANT should not be sent to the message sender")
 	case <-time.After(time.Second):
 	}
+}
+
+func TestGossipsubIDONTWANTBeforeFirstPublish(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+	hosts := getDefaultHosts(t, 2)
+	denseConnect(t, hosts)
+
+	psubs := make([]*PubSub, 2)
+
+	psubs[0] = getGossipsub(ctx, hosts[0])
+	rpcsReceived := make(chan string)
+	psubs[1] = getGossipsub(ctx, hosts[1], WithRawTracer(&mockRawTracer{
+		onRecvRPC: func(rpc *RPC) {
+			if len(rpc.GetControl().GetIdontwant()) > 0 {
+				rpcsReceived <- "idontwant"
+			}
+			if len(rpc.GetPublish()) > 0 {
+				rpcsReceived <- "publish"
+			}
+		},
+	}))
+
+	topicString := "foobar"
+	var topics []*Topic
+	for _, ps := range psubs {
+		topic, err := ps.Join(topicString)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		topics = append(topics, topic)
+
+		_, err = ps.Subscribe(topicString)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+
+	msg := make([]byte, GossipSubIDontWantMessageThreshold+1)
+	_ = topics[0].Publish(ctx, msg)
+
+	timeout := time.After(5 * time.Second)
+
+	select {
+	case kind := <-rpcsReceived:
+		if kind == "publish" {
+			t.Fatal("IDONTWANT should be sent before publish")
+		}
+	case <-timeout:
+		t.Fatal("IDONTWANT should be sent on first publish")
+	}
+
+	select {
+	case kind := <-rpcsReceived:
+		if kind != "publish" {
+			t.Fatal("Expected publish after IDONTWANT")
+		}
+	case <-timeout:
+		t.Fatal("Expected publish after IDONTWANT")
+	}
 
 }
 
diff --git a/pubsub.go b/pubsub.go
index fae115a..e8e598b 100644
--- a/pubsub.go
+++ b/pubsub.go
@@ -204,9 +204,9 @@ type PubSubRouter interface {
 	// Allows routers with internal scoring to vet peers before committing any processing resources
 	// to the message and implement an effective graylist and react to validation queue overload.
 	AcceptFrom(peer.ID) AcceptStatus
-	// PreValidation is invoked on messages in the RPC envelope right before pushing it to
+	// Preprocess is invoked on messages in the RPC envelope right before pushing it to
 	// the validation pipeline
-	PreValidation(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message)
+	Preprocess(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message)
 	// HandleRPC is invoked to process control messages in the RPC envelope.
 	// It is invoked after subscriptions and payload messages have been processed.
 	HandleRPC(*RPC)
@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ func (p *PubSub) handleIncomingRPC(rpc *RPC) {
 				toPush = append(toPush, msg)
 			}
 		}
-		p.rt.PreValidation(rpc.from, toPush)
+		p.rt.Preprocess(rpc.from, toPush)
 		for _, msg := range toPush {
 			p.pushMsg(msg)
 		}
diff --git a/randomsub.go b/randomsub.go
index f9f6473..fe70e43 100644
--- a/randomsub.go
+++ b/randomsub.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (rs *RandomSubRouter) AcceptFrom(peer.ID) AcceptStatus {
 	return AcceptAll
 }
 
-func (rs *RandomSubRouter) PreValidation(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message) {}
+func (rs *RandomSubRouter) Preprocess(from peer.ID, msgs []*Message) {}
 
 func (rs *RandomSubRouter) HandleRPC(rpc *RPC) {}
 
diff --git a/topic.go b/topic.go
index a6ad979..b164e32 100644
--- a/topic.go
+++ b/topic.go
@@ -349,6 +349,7 @@ func (t *Topic) validate(ctx context.Context, data []byte, opts ...PubOpt) (*Mes
 	}
 
 	msg := &Message{m, "", t.p.host.ID(), pub.validatorData, pub.local}
+	t.p.rt.Preprocess(t.p.host.ID(), []*Message{msg})
 	err := t.p.val.ValidateLocal(msg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err