diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
index 3ec69adde..c9ca57e96 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ type
 method subscribeTopic*(f: FloodSub,
                        topic: string,
                        subscribe: bool,
-                       peerId: PeerID) {.gcsafe, async.} =
-  await procCall PubSub(f).subscribeTopic(topic, subscribe, peerId)
-  let peer = f.peers.getOrDefault(peerId)
+                       peer: PubsubPeer) {.gcsafe.} =
+  procCall PubSub(f).subscribeTopic(topic, subscribe, peer)
+
   if topic notin f.floodsub:
     f.floodsub[topic] = initHashSet[PubSubPeer]()
 
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index 9195207c0..468959f37 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -281,18 +281,13 @@ method unsubscribePeer*(g: GossipSub, peer: PeerID) =
 method subscribeTopic*(g: GossipSub,
                        topic: string,
                        subscribe: bool,
-                       peerId: PeerID) {.gcsafe, async.} =
-  await procCall FloodSub(g).subscribeTopic(topic, subscribe, peerId)
+                       peer: PubSubPeer) {.gcsafe.} =
+  procCall FloodSub(g).subscribeTopic(topic, subscribe, peer)
 
   logScope:
-    peer = $peerId
+    peer = $peer.id
     topic
 
-  let peer = g.peers.getOrDefault(peerId)
-  if peer == nil:
-    # floodsub method logs a debug line already
-    return
-
   if subscribe:
     trace "peer subscribed to topic"
     # subscribe remote peer to the topic
@@ -316,10 +311,6 @@ method subscribeTopic*(g: GossipSub,
 
   trace "gossip peers", peers = g.gossipsub.peers(topic), topic
 
-  # also rebalance current topic if we are subbed to
-  if topic in g.topics:
-    await g.rebalanceMesh(topic)
-
 proc handleGraft(g: GossipSub,
                  peer: PubSubPeer,
                  grafts: seq[ControlGraft]): seq[ControlPrune] =
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
index 17e0203e8..72d5f527e 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ proc sendSubs*(p: PubSub,
 method subscribeTopic*(p: PubSub,
                        topic: string,
                        subscribe: bool,
-                       peerId: PeerID) {.base, async.} =
+                       peer: PubSubPeer) {.base.} =
   # called when remote peer subscribes to a topic
   discard
 
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ method rpcHandler*(p: PubSub,
     if m.subscriptions.len > 0:                    # if there are any subscriptions
       for s in m.subscriptions:                    # subscribe/unsubscribe the peer for each topic
         trace "about to subscribe to topic", topicId = s.topic
-        await p.subscribeTopic(s.topic, s.subscribe, peer.peerId)
+        p.subscribeTopic(s.topic, s.subscribe, peer)
 
 proc getOrCreatePeer*(
   p: PubSub,