diff --git a/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager.go b/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager.go
index e12d3b24..2ac489a0 100644
--- a/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager.go
+++ b/waku/v2/peermanager/peer_manager.go
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ func inAndOutRelayPeers(relayPeers int) (int, int) {
 // checkAndUpdateTopicHealth finds health of specified topic and updates and notifies of the same.
 // Also returns the healthyPeerCount
 func (pm *PeerManager) checkAndUpdateTopicHealth(topic *NodeTopicDetails) int {
+	if topic == nil {
+		return 0
+	}
+
 	healthyPeerCount := 0
 
 	for _, p := range pm.relay.PubSub().MeshPeers(topic.topic.String()) {
diff --git a/waku/v2/protocol/relay/waku_relay.go b/waku/v2/protocol/relay/waku_relay.go
index 05fc823d..936b37c5 100644
--- a/waku/v2/protocol/relay/waku_relay.go
+++ b/waku/v2/protocol/relay/waku_relay.go
@@ -493,6 +493,9 @@ func (w *WakuRelay) Unsubscribe(ctx context.Context, contentFilter waku_proto.Co
 // unsubscribeFromPubsubTopic unsubscribes subscription from underlying pubsub.
 // Note: caller has to acquire topicsMutex in order to avoid race conditions
 func (w *WakuRelay) unsubscribeFromPubsubTopic(topicData *pubsubTopicSubscriptionDetails) error {
+	if topicData.subscription == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	pubSubTopic := topicData.subscription.Topic()
 	w.log.Info("unsubscribing from pubsubTopic", zap.String("topic", pubSubTopic))