diff --git a/cmd/node/appchain.go b/cmd/node/appchain.go
index f88cef3..2661db5 100644
--- a/cmd/node/appchain.go
+++ b/cmd/node/appchain.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ const NUM_REGISTRATION_RETRY_MIN_DELAY = 1
 const NUM_REGISTRATION_RETRY_MAX_DELAY = 2
 const NUM_STAKING_RETRY_MIN_DELAY = 1
 const NUM_STAKING_RETRY_MAX_DELAY = 2
+const REPUTER_TOPIC_SUFFIX = "/reputer"
 
 func getAlloraClient(config AppChainConfig) (*cosmosclient.Client, error) {
 	// create a allora client instance
diff --git a/cmd/node/execute.go b/cmd/node/execute.go
index 8a5aced..7d348ce 100644
--- a/cmd/node/execute.go
+++ b/cmd/node/execute.go
@@ -60,8 +60,20 @@ func sendResultsToChain(log zerolog.Logger, appChainClient *AppChain, res node.C
 		}
 		appChainClient.SendWorkerModeData(reqCtx, topicId, aggregate.Aggregate(res.Data))
 	} else { // for losses
+		// if topicId does not end in "/reputer
+
+		if !strings.HasSuffix(res.Topic, REPUTER_TOPIC_SUFFIX) {
+			log.Error().Str("Topic", res.Topic).Str("worker mode", appChainClient.Config.WorkerMode).Msg("Invalid reputer topic format")
+			return
+		}
 		// Get the topicId from the reputer topic string
-		topicId, err := strconv.ParseUint(res.Topic[:strings.Index(res.Topic, "/")], 10, 64)
+		index := strings.Index(res.Topic, "/")
+		if index == -1 {
+			// Handle the error: "/" not found in res.Topic
+			log.Error().Str("Topic", res.Topic).Msg("Invalid topic format")
+			return
+		}
+		topicId, err := strconv.ParseUint(res.Topic[:index], 10, 64)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error().Str("Topic", res.Topic).Str("worker mode", appChainClient.Config.WorkerMode).Err(err).Msg("Cannot parse reputer topic ID")
 			return