diff --git a/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager_test.go b/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager_test.go
index 0c6f4733..b31425b1 100644
--- a/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager_test.go
+++ b/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/multiformats/go-multiaddr"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
 	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/tests"
 	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/discv5"
 	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/onlinechecker"
@@ -125,36 +126,38 @@ func TestPeerSelection(t *testing.T) {
 	defer h3.Close()
 
 	protocol := libp2pProtocol.ID("test/protocol")
-	_, err = pm.AddPeer([]multiaddr.Multiaddr{tests.GetAddr(h2)}, wps.Static, []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1", "/waku/2/rs/2/2"}, libp2pProtocol.ID(protocol))
+	_, err = pm.AddPeer([]multiaddr.Multiaddr{tests.GetAddr(h2)}, wps.Static, []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1", "/waku/2/rs/2/2"}, protocol)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	_, err = pm.AddPeer([]multiaddr.Multiaddr{tests.GetAddr(h3)}, wps.Static, []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}, libp2pProtocol.ID(protocol))
+	_, err = pm.AddPeer([]multiaddr.Multiaddr{tests.GetAddr(h3)}, wps.Static, []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}, protocol)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	_, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	var peerIDs peer.IDSlice
 
-	peerIDs, err := pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/2"}})
+	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, h2.ID(), peerIDs[0])
+	require.Len(t, peerIDs, 1) // Only 1 peer is returned randomly, because MaxPeers defaults to 1 when not set
 
-	_, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/3"}})
-	require.Error(t, utils.ErrNoPeersAvailable, err)
-
-	_, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}})
+	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/2"}})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, peerIDs, 1)
+	require.Equal(t, h2.ID(), peerIDs[0]) // Only h2 has this pubsub topic
 
-	//Test for selectWithLowestRTT
-	_, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: LowestRTT, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}})
+	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/3"}})
+	require.Error(t, utils.ErrNoPeersAvailable, err) // No peer has this pubsub topic
+	require.Empty(t, peerIDs)
+
+	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, peerIDs, 1) // Both h2 and h3 have this pubsub topic, but only 1 peer is returned randomly because MaxPeers defaults to 1 when not set
 
 	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}, MaxPeers: 2})
-	require.Equal(t, 2, peerIDs.Len())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, peerIDs, 2)
 
 	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}, MaxPeers: 3})
-	require.Equal(t, 2, peerIDs.Len())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, peerIDs, 2)
 
 	h4, err := tests.MakeHost(ctx, 0, rand.Reader)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -163,9 +166,14 @@ func TestPeerSelection(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: Automatic, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}, MaxPeers: 3})
-	require.Equal(t, 3, peerIDs.Len())
+	require.Len(t, peerIDs, 3)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
+	//Test for selectWithLowestRTT
+	// NOTE: This test must go the last because it involves pinging peers, which modifies the list of supported protocols
+	peerIDs, err = pm.SelectPeers(PeerSelectionCriteria{SelectionType: LowestRTT, Proto: protocol, PubsubTopics: []string{"/waku/2/rs/2/1"}, MaxPeers: 2})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, peerIDs, 1) // With LowestRTT, only 1 peer is returned, even if MaxPeers is set
 }
 
 func TestDefaultProtocol(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_selection.go b/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_selection.go
index 7cadbe22..007d1939 100644
--- a/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_selection.go
+++ b/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_selection.go
@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/peer"
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/protocol"
-	wps "github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/peerstore"
-	waku_proto "github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/protocol"
-	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/utils"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/maps"
+
+	wps "github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/peerstore"
+	waku_proto "github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/protocol"
+	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/protocol/relay"
+	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/utils"
 )
 
 type PeerSet map[peer.ID]struct{}
@@ -46,7 +48,7 @@ func (pm *PeerManager) SelectPeerByContentTopics(proto protocol.ID, contentTopic
 	return peers[0], nil
 }
 
-// SelectRandomPeer is used to return a random peer that supports a given protocol.
+// SelectRandom is used to return a random peer that supports a given protocol.
 // If a list of specific peers is passed, the peer will be chosen from that list assuming
 // it supports the chosen protocol, otherwise it will chose a peer from the service slot.
 // If a peer cannot be found in the service slot, a peer will be selected from node peerstore
@@ -57,26 +59,40 @@ func (pm *PeerManager) SelectRandom(criteria PeerSelectionCriteria) (peer.IDSlic
 	// This will require us to check for various factors such as:
 	//  - which topics they track
 	//  - latency?
+
 	peerIDs, err := pm.selectServicePeer(criteria)
 	if err == nil && len(peerIDs) == criteria.MaxPeers {
 		return maps.Keys(peerIDs), nil
-	} else if !errors.Is(err, utils.ErrNoPeersAvailable) {
-		pm.logger.Debug("could not retrieve random peer from slot", zap.String("protocol", string(criteria.Proto)),
-			zap.Strings("pubsubTopics", criteria.PubsubTopics), zap.Error(err))
+	}
+	if !errors.Is(err, utils.ErrNoPeersAvailable) {
+		pm.logger.Debug("could not retrieve random peer from slot",
+			zap.String("protocol", string(criteria.Proto)),
+			zap.Strings("pubsubTopics", criteria.PubsubTopics),
+			zap.Error(err))
 		return nil, err
-	} else if len(peerIDs) == 0 {
+	}
+	if len(peerIDs) == 0 {
 		peerIDs = make(PeerSet)
 	}
-	// if not found in serviceSlots or proto == WakuRelayIDv200
-	filteredPeers, err := pm.FilterPeersByProto(criteria.SpecificPeers, criteria.ExcludePeers, criteria.Proto)
+
+	// if not found in serviceSlots or proto == WakuRelayIDv200 (service slots don't support WakuRelayIDv200)
+	peerSet := criteria.SpecificPeers
+	if len(peerSet) == 0 {
+		peerSet = pm.host.Peerstore().Peers()
+	}
+	filteredPeers, err := pm.FilterPeersByProto(peerSet, criteria.ExcludePeers, criteria.Proto)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if len(filteredPeers) == 0 && criteria.Proto != relay.WakuRelayID_v200 {
+		return nil, utils.ErrNoPeersAvailable
+	}
 	if len(criteria.PubsubTopics) > 0 {
 		filteredPeers = pm.host.Peerstore().(wps.WakuPeerstore).PeersByPubSubTopics(criteria.PubsubTopics, filteredPeers...)
 	}
+
 	//Not passing excludePeers as filterPeers are already considering excluded ones.
-	randomPeers, err := selectRandomPeers(filteredPeers, nil, criteria.MaxPeers-len(peerIDs))
+	randomPeers, err := selectRandomPeers(filteredPeers, nil, min(criteria.MaxPeers, len(peerIDs)))
 	if err != nil && len(peerIDs) == 0 {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -88,7 +104,6 @@ func (pm *PeerManager) SelectRandom(criteria PeerSelectionCriteria) (peer.IDSlic
 }
 
 func getRandom(filter PeerSet, count int, excludePeers PeerSet) (PeerSet, error) {
-	i := 0
 	selectedPeers := make(PeerSet)
 	for pID := range filter {
 		if PeerInSet(excludePeers, pID) {
@@ -96,8 +111,7 @@ func getRandom(filter PeerSet, count int, excludePeers PeerSet) (PeerSet, error)
 		}
 		//Map's iterator in golang works using randomness and hence not random function is being used.
 		selectedPeers[pID] = struct{}{}
-		i++
-		if i == count {
+		if len(selectedPeers) == count {
 			break
 		}
 	}
@@ -121,41 +135,57 @@ func PeerSliceToMap(peers peer.IDSlice) PeerSet {
 	return peerSet
 }
 
+/*
+selectServicePeer tries to select peer from serviceSlot first based on criteria.
+serviceSlots is a map of peerMap by protocol.ID.
+- Slots are created automatically in getPeers.
+- Slots are not created for relay.WakuRelayID_v200.
+Therefore for Relay protocol, selectServicePeer will always return ErrNoPeersAvailable.
+
+If there is no pubsubTopics criteria, a random peer from the selected slot is returned.
+Otherwise, peers from the slot are filtered by pubsubTopics and random peers are selected from the filtered list.
+
+If no peer is found in the slot, on-demand discovery is triggered for the given pubsubTopics and protocol.
+The function retries once to fetch peers from the slot after discovery.
+*/
 func (pm *PeerManager) selectServicePeer(criteria PeerSelectionCriteria) (PeerSet, error) {
 	peers := make(PeerSet)
 	var err error
 	for retryCnt := 0; retryCnt < 1; retryCnt++ {
 		//Try to fetch from serviceSlot
-		if slot := pm.serviceSlots.getPeers(criteria.Proto); slot != nil {
-			if len(criteria.PubsubTopics) == 0 || (len(criteria.PubsubTopics) == 1 && criteria.PubsubTopics[0] == "") {
-				return slot.getRandom(criteria.MaxPeers, criteria.ExcludePeers)
-			} else { //PubsubTopic based selection
-				slot.mu.RLock()
-				keys := make([]peer.ID, 0, len(slot.m))
-				for i := range slot.m {
-					if PeerInSet(criteria.ExcludePeers, i) {
-						continue
-					}
-					keys = append(keys, i)
-				}
-				slot.mu.RUnlock()
-				selectedPeers := pm.host.Peerstore().(wps.WakuPeerstore).PeersByPubSubTopics(criteria.PubsubTopics, keys...)
-				tmpPeers, err := selectRandomPeers(selectedPeers, criteria.ExcludePeers, criteria.MaxPeers)
-				for tmpPeer := range tmpPeers {
-					peers[tmpPeer] = struct{}{}
-				}
-				if err == nil && len(peers) == criteria.MaxPeers {
-					return peers, nil
-				} else {
-					pm.logger.Debug("discovering peers by pubsubTopic", zap.Strings("pubsubTopics", criteria.PubsubTopics))
-					//Trigger on-demand discovery for this topic and connect to peer immediately.
-					//For now discover atleast 1 peer for the criteria
-					pm.discoverPeersByPubsubTopics(criteria.PubsubTopics, criteria.Proto, criteria.Ctx, 1)
-					//Try to fetch peers again.
-					continue
-				}
-			}
+		slot := pm.serviceSlots.getPeers(criteria.Proto)
+		if slot == nil {
+			continue
 		}
+		if len(criteria.PubsubTopics) == 0 || (len(criteria.PubsubTopics) == 1 && criteria.PubsubTopics[0] == "") {
+			return slot.getRandom(criteria.MaxPeers, criteria.ExcludePeers)
+		}
+
+		//PubsubTopic based selection
+		slot.mu.RLock()
+		keys := make([]peer.ID, 0, len(slot.m))
+		for peerID := range slot.m {
+			if PeerInSet(criteria.ExcludePeers, peerID) {
+				continue
+			}
+			keys = append(keys, peerID)
+		}
+		slot.mu.RUnlock()
+		selectedPeers := pm.host.Peerstore().(wps.WakuPeerstore).PeersByPubSubTopics(criteria.PubsubTopics, keys...)
+		tmpPeers, err := selectRandomPeers(selectedPeers, criteria.ExcludePeers, criteria.MaxPeers)
+		for tmpPeer := range tmpPeers {
+			peers[tmpPeer] = struct{}{}
+		}
+		if err == nil && len(peers) == criteria.MaxPeers {
+			return peers, nil
+		}
+
+		//Trigger on-demand discovery for this topic and connect to peer immediately.
+		//For now discover at least 1 peer for the criteria
+		pm.logger.Debug("discovering peers by pubsubTopic", zap.Strings("pubsubTopics", criteria.PubsubTopics))
+		pm.discoverPeersByPubsubTopics(criteria.PubsubTopics, criteria.Proto, criteria.Ctx, 1)
+
+		//Try to fetch peers again.
 	}
 	if len(peers) == 0 {
 		pm.logger.Debug("could not retrieve random peer from slot", zap.Error(err))
diff --git a/waku/v2/peerstore/waku_peer_store.go b/waku/v2/peerstore/waku_peer_store.go
index af42a28a..dd3ea82d 100644
--- a/waku/v2/peerstore/waku_peer_store.go
+++ b/waku/v2/peerstore/waku_peer_store.go
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/network"
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/peer"
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/peerstore"
-	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/protocol"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/maps"
+
+	"github.com/waku-org/go-waku/waku/v2/protocol"
 )
 
 // Origin is used to determine how the peer is identified,
@@ -233,17 +234,20 @@ func (ps *WakuPeerstoreImpl) PeersByPubSubTopics(pubSubTopics []string, specific
 	for _, p := range specificPeers {
 		peerMatch := true
 		peerTopics, err := ps.PubSubTopics(p)
-		if err == nil {
-			for _, t := range pubSubTopics {
-				if _, ok := peerTopics[t]; !ok {
-					peerMatch = false
-					break
-				}
+		if err != nil {
+			//Note: skipping a peer in case of an error as there would be others available.
+			continue
+		}
+
+		for _, t := range pubSubTopics {
+			if _, ok := peerTopics[t]; !ok {
+				peerMatch = false
+				break
 			}
-			if peerMatch {
-				result = append(result, p)
-			}
-		} //Note: skipping a peer in case of an error as there would be others available.
+		}
+		if peerMatch {
+			result = append(result, p)
+		}
 	}
 	return result
 }