diff --git a/vendor/nim-eth b/vendor/nim-eth
index 601fa7ff6..a8d11dd30 160000
--- a/vendor/nim-eth
+++ b/vendor/nim-eth
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 601fa7ff667431b05d18579af0e43bf4d8dafa61
+Subproject commit a8d11dd30bf0b844e049702353addbbca803845c
diff --git a/vendor/nim-web3 b/vendor/nim-web3
index b985323d6..97e05aea6 160000
--- a/vendor/nim-web3
+++ b/vendor/nim-web3
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit b985323d6418a738aa2b9e0b819efe169f00b078
+Subproject commit 97e05aea6573d2630e318e7777a54d95db6ec40e
diff --git a/waku/v1/protocol/waku_bridge.nim b/waku/v1/protocol/waku_bridge.nim
index 3227c242d..50a6bad2d 100644
--- a/waku/v1/protocol/waku_bridge.nim
+++ b/waku/v1/protocol/waku_bridge.nim
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #
 #             Waku - Whisper Bridge
-#              (c) Copyright 2019
+#              (c) Copyright 2018-2021
 #       Status Research & Development GmbH
 #
 #            Licensed under either of
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #            MIT license (LICENSE-MIT)
 #
 
+{.push raises: [Defect].}
+
 import
   eth/p2p,
   eth/p2p/rlpx_protocols/whisper_protocol,
diff --git a/waku/v1/protocol/waku_mail.nim b/waku/v1/protocol/waku_mail.nim
index aea073465..3bad0d2b4 100644
--- a/waku/v1/protocol/waku_mail.nim
+++ b/waku/v1/protocol/waku_mail.nim
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 #
 #            Waku Mail Client & Server
-#              (c) Copyright 2019
+#              (c) Copyright 2018-2021
 #       Status Research & Development GmbH
 #
 #            Licensed under either of
-#  Apache License, version 2.0, (LICENSE-APACHEv2)
+#  Apache License, version 2.0, (LICENSE-APACHEv2)F
 #            MIT license (LICENSE-MIT)
 #
+
+{.push raises: [Defect].}
+
 import
   chronos,
   eth/[p2p, async_utils],
diff --git a/waku/v1/protocol/waku_protocol.nim b/waku/v1/protocol/waku_protocol.nim
index 9e073c0f2..6ad456ff9 100644
--- a/waku/v1/protocol/waku_protocol.nim
+++ b/waku/v1/protocol/waku_protocol.nim
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #
 #                 Waku
-#              (c) Copyright 2018-2019
+#              (c) Copyright 2018-2021
 #       Status Research & Development GmbH
 #
 #            Licensed under either of
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 ## However, they only make real sense after ``connectToNetwork`` was started. As
 ## else there will be no peers to send and receive messages from.
 
+{.push raises: [Defect].}
+
 import
   options, tables, times, chronos, chronicles, metrics,
   eth/[keys, async_utils, p2p], eth/p2p/rlpx_protocols/whisper/whisper_types,
@@ -143,9 +145,14 @@ proc append*(rlpWriter: var RlpWriter, value: StatusOptions) =
 
   let bytes = list.finish()
 
-  rlpWriter.append(rlpFromBytes(bytes))
+  try:
+    rlpWriter.append(rlpFromBytes(bytes))
+  except RlpError as e:
+    # bytes is valid rlp just created here, rlpFromBytes should thus never fail
+    raiseAssert e.msg
 
-proc read*(rlp: var Rlp, T: typedesc[StatusOptions]): T =
+proc read*(rlp: var Rlp, T: typedesc[StatusOptions]):
+    T {.raises: [RlpError, Defect].}=
   if not rlp.isList():
     raise newException(RlpTypeMismatch,
       "List expected, but the source RLP is not a list.")
@@ -433,7 +440,7 @@ proc run(peer: Peer) {.async, raises: [Defect].} =
     peer.processQueue()
     await sleepAsync(messageInterval)
 
-proc pruneReceived(node: EthereumNode) {.raises: [].} =
+proc pruneReceived(node: EthereumNode) =
   if node.peerPool != nil: # XXX: a bit dirty to need to check for this here ...
     var wakuNet = node.protocolState(Waku)
 
@@ -561,7 +568,8 @@ proc unsubscribeFilter*(node: EthereumNode, filterId: string): bool =
   var filter: Filter
   return node.protocolState(Waku).filters.take(filterId, filter)
 
-proc getFilterMessages*(node: EthereumNode, filterId: string): seq[ReceivedMessage] =
+proc getFilterMessages*(node: EthereumNode, filterId: string):
+    seq[ReceivedMessage] {.raises: [KeyError, Defect].} =
   ## Get all the messages currently in the filter queue. This will reset the
   ## filter message queue.
   return node.protocolState(Waku).filters.getFilterMessages(filterId)