diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index 2d7b84cc9..baf483f18 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ proc grafted(g: GossipSub, p: PubSubPeer, topic: string) =
 
     debug "grafted", p
   do:
-    doAssert(false, "grafted: TopicInfo key not found for " & $p)
+    doAssert(false, "grafted: peerStats key not found for " & $p)
 
 proc pruned(g: GossipSub, p: PubSubPeer, topic: string) =
   g.peerStats.withValue(p, stats) do:
@@ -685,7 +685,12 @@ proc handleGraft(g: GossipSub,
 
     # If they send us a graft before they send us a subscribe, what should
     # we do? For now, we add them to mesh but don't add them to gossipsub.
+    
+    if peer notin g.peerStats:
+      g.peerStats[peer] = PeerStats()
+    
     if topic in g.topics:
+      discard g.gossipsub.addPeer(topic, peer)
       if g.mesh.peers(topic) < GossipSubDHi:
         # In the spec, there's no mention of DHi here, but implicitly, a
         # peer will be removed from the mesh on next rebalance, so we don't want