diff --git a/logos_delivery/waku/rest_api/endpoint/relay/handlers.nim b/logos_delivery/waku/rest_api/endpoint/relay/handlers.nim
index 0976877f4..0f3d52e40 100644
--- a/logos_delivery/waku/rest_api/endpoint/relay/handlers.nim
+++ b/logos_delivery/waku/rest_api/endpoint/relay/handlers.nim
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ proc attachRlnProofAndValidate(
   ## RlnValidatorErrorMsg), schedules a background merkle proof refresh and
   ## fails early with StaleProofSuspected — the caller decides whether to
   ## retry. Callers invoke only when RLN is mounted.
-  var msg = message
+  let msg = message.clone()
   msg.proof = (
     await rln.generateRLNProof(msg.toRLNSignal(), float64(getTime().toUnix()))
   ).valueOr:
diff --git a/logos_delivery/waku/rln/proof.nim b/logos_delivery/waku/rln/proof.nim
index 8a29eb67b..5c6f52eb7 100644
--- a/logos_delivery/waku/rln/proof.nim
+++ b/logos_delivery/waku/rln/proof.nim
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ proc attachRLNProof*(
   ## Returns the message with a freshly generated RLN proof, replacing any
   ## existing one and drawing a new message id. Retry paths suspecting a stale
   ## path should call `invalidateMerkleProofCache` first.
-  var msgWithProof = message
+  let msgWithProof = message.clone()
   msgWithProof.proof = (
     await r.generateRLNProof(message.toRLNSignal(), float64(getTime().toUnix()))
   ).valueOr:
diff --git a/logos_delivery/waku/waku_relay/protocol.nim b/logos_delivery/waku/waku_relay/protocol.nim
index 0d4bd65f5..17c6e8e03 100644
--- a/logos_delivery/waku/waku_relay/protocol.nim
+++ b/logos_delivery/waku/waku_relay/protocol.nim
@@ -689,9 +689,7 @@ proc publish*(
   if pubsubTopic.isEmptyOrWhitespace():
     return err(NoTopicSpecified)
 
-  var message = wakuMessage
-  if message.timestamp == 0:
-    message.timestamp = getNowInNanosecondTime()
+  let message = wakuMessage.ensureTimestampSet()
 
   let data = message.encode().buffer