diff --git a/beacon_chain/sync/branch_discovery.nim b/beacon_chain/sync/branch_discovery.nim
index 8e3d1ca3e..ba3d02292 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/sync/branch_discovery.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/sync/branch_discovery.nim
@@ -299,9 +299,12 @@ proc resume*(self: ref BranchDiscovery) =
 proc transferOwnership*(self: ref BranchDiscovery, peer: Peer) =
   const maxPeersInQueue = 10
   if self.state != BranchDiscoveryState.Active or
-      self[].peerQueue.len >= maxPeersInQueue:
+      self[].peerQueue.len >= maxPeersInQueue or
+      peer.getHeadSlot() <= self[].getFinalizedSlot() or
+      self[].isBlockKnown(peer.getHeadRoot()):
     self[].network.peerPool.release(peer)
     return
+
   debug "Peer transferred to branch discovery",
     peer, peer_score = peer.getScore()
   self[].peerQueue.addLast(peer)
diff --git a/beacon_chain/sync/sync_manager.nim b/beacon_chain/sync/sync_manager.nim
index 745d4af3e..3640980e8 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/sync/sync_manager.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/sync/sync_manager.nim
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ proc syncWorker[A, B](man: SyncManager[A, B], index: int) {.async: (raises: [Can
       peer = await man.pool.acquire()
       await man.syncStep(index, peer)
       if man.workers[index].status < SyncWorkerStatus.Downloading and
-          man.fallbackSyncer != nil:
+          peer.getScore() >= PeerScoreLowLimit and man.fallbackSyncer != nil:
         # The peer was not useful for us, hand it over to the fallback syncer.
         # It is the responsibility of the fallback syncer to release the peer
         man.fallbackSyncer(peer)