diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index e3c8eb44e..8135259ff 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ method publish*(g: GossipSub,
                                              data = data.shortLog
 
   var peers: HashSet[string]
+  # TODO: we probably don't need to try multiple times
   if data.len > 0 and topic.len > 0:
     for _ in 0..<5: # try to get peers up to 5 times
       if peers.len > 0:
@@ -470,14 +471,18 @@ method publish*(g: GossipSub,
       await sleepAsync(1.seconds)
 
     let msg = newMessage(g.peerInfo, data, topic, g.sign)
+    trace "created new message", msg
     var sent: seq[Future[void]]
     for p in peers:
       if p == g.peerInfo.id:
         continue
 
       trace "publishing on topic", name = topic
-      g.mcache.put(msg)
-      sent.add(g.peers[p].send(@[RPCMsg(messages: @[msg])]))
+      if msg.msgId notin g.mcache:
+        g.mcache.put(msg)
+
+      if p in g.peers:
+        sent.add(g.peers[p].send(@[RPCMsg(messages: @[msg])]))
     checkFutures(await allFinished(sent))
 
     libp2p_pubsub_messages_published.inc(labelValues = [topic])
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/mcache.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/mcache.nim
index 31b18d1cf..06157c942 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/mcache.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/mcache.nim
@@ -22,6 +22,14 @@ type
     historySize*: Natural
     windowSize*: Natural
 
+proc get*(c: MCache, mid: string): Option[Message] =
+  result = none(Message)
+  if mid in c.msgs:
+    result = some(c.msgs[mid])
+
+proc contains*(c: MCache, mid: string): bool =
+  c.get(mid).isSome
+
 proc put*(c: MCache, msg: Message) =
   proc handler(key: string, val: Message) {.gcsafe.} =
     ## make sure we remove the message from history
@@ -30,13 +38,9 @@ proc put*(c: MCache, msg: Message) =
       it.filterIt(it.mid != msg.msgId)
     )
 
-  c.msgs.put(msg.msgId, msg, handler = handler)
-  c.history[0].add(CacheEntry(mid: msg.msgId, msg: msg))
-
-proc get*(c: MCache, mid: string): Option[Message] =
-  result = none(Message)
-  if mid in c.msgs:
-    result = some(c.msgs[mid])
+  if msg.msgId notin c.msgs:
+    c.msgs.put(msg.msgId, msg, handler = handler)
+    c.history[0].add(CacheEntry(mid: msg.msgId, msg: msg))
 
 proc window*(c: MCache, topic: string): HashSet[string] =
   result = initHashSet[string]()
diff --git a/libp2p/switch.nim b/libp2p/switch.nim
index 0f085000a..18d4dfac8 100644
--- a/libp2p/switch.nim
+++ b/libp2p/switch.nim
@@ -379,17 +379,16 @@ proc subscribeToPeer*(s: Switch, peerInfo: PeerInfo) {.async, gcsafe.} =
   ## Subscribe to pub sub peer
   if s.pubSub.isSome and (peerInfo.id notin s.dialedPubSubPeers):
     let conn = await s.getMuxedStream(peerInfo)
-    try:
-      if isNil(conn):
-        trace "unable to subscribe to peer", peer = peerInfo.shortLog
-        return
+    if isNil(conn):
+      trace "unable to subscribe to peer", peer = peerInfo.shortLog
+      return
 
-      s.dialedPubSubPeers.incl(peerInfo.id)
+    s.dialedPubSubPeers.incl(peerInfo.id)
+    try:
       if (await s.ms.select(conn, s.pubSub.get().codec)):
         await s.pubSub.get().subscribeToPeer(conn)
       else:
         await conn.close()
-
     except CatchableError as exc:
       trace "exception in subscribe to peer", peer = peerInfo.shortLog, exc = exc.msg
       await conn.close()