diff --git a/src/pubsub.js b/src/pubsub.js
index ced2b2c32..a762be4e1 100644
--- a/src/pubsub.js
+++ b/src/pubsub.js
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ module.exports = (arg) => {
 
   function subscribe (topic, options, handler, callback) {
     ps.on(topic, handler)
+
     if (subscriptions[topic]) {
       return callback()
     }
diff --git a/src/utils/pubsub-message-stream.js b/src/utils/pubsub-message-stream.js
index f994cc401..992529213 100644
--- a/src/utils/pubsub-message-stream.js
+++ b/src/utils/pubsub-message-stream.js
@@ -16,17 +16,18 @@ class PubsubMessageStream extends TransformStream {
   }
 
   _transform (obj, enc, callback) {
-    let msg
-    try {
-      msg = PubsubMessage.deserialize(obj, 'base64')
-    } catch (err) {
-      // Not a valid pubsub message
-      // go-ipfs returns '{}' as the very first object atm, we skip that
+    // go-ipfs returns '{}' as the very first object atm, we skip that
+    if (Object.keys(obj).length === 0) {
       return callback()
     }
 
-    this.push(msg)
-    callback()
+    try {
+      const msg = PubsubMessage.deserialize(obj, 'base64')
+      this.push(msg)
+      callback()
+    } catch (err) {
+      return callback(err)
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils/pubsub-message-utils.js b/src/utils/pubsub-message-utils.js
index 2b3bbbabe..53d1e397a 100644
--- a/src/utils/pubsub-message-utils.js
+++ b/src/utils/pubsub-message-utils.js
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ function deserializeFromBase64 (obj) {
     from: bs58.encode(Buffer.from(obj.from, 'base64')).toString(),
     seqno: Buffer.from(obj.seqno, 'base64'),
     data: Buffer.from(obj.data, 'base64'),
-    topicIDs: obj.topicIDs
+    topicIDs: obj.topicIDs || obj.topicCIDs
   }
 }
 
 function isPubsubMessage (obj) {
-  return obj && obj.from && obj.seqno && obj.data && obj.topicIDs
+  return obj && obj.from && obj.seqno && obj.data && (obj.topicIDs || obj.topicCIDs)
 }