diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0178928..42c9bd2 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ const { EventEmitter } = require('events')
 const DHT = require('hyperdht')
 const spq = require('shuffled-priority-queue')
 const b4a = require('b4a')
-const unslab = require('unslab')
 
 const PeerInfo = require('./lib/peer-info')
 const RetryTimer = require('./lib/retry-timer')
@@ -424,7 +423,6 @@ module.exports = class Hyperswarm extends EventEmitter {
   // TODO: When you rejoin, it should reannounce + bump lookup priority
   join (topic, opts = {}) {
     if (!topic) throw new Error(ERR_MISSING_TOPIC)
-    topic = unslab(topic)
 
     const topicString = b4a.toString(topic, 'hex')
 
diff --git a/lib/peer-discovery.js b/lib/peer-discovery.js
index aeefe6d..6971595 100644
--- a/lib/peer-discovery.js
+++ b/lib/peer-discovery.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 const safetyCatch = require('safety-catch')
 const b4a = require('b4a')
+const unslab = require('unslab')
 
 const REFRESH_INTERVAL = 1000 * 60 * 10 // 10 min
 const RANDOM_JITTER = 1000 * 60 * 2 // 2 min
@@ -8,7 +9,7 @@ const DELAY_GRACE_PERIOD = 1000 * 30 // 30s
 module.exports = class PeerDiscovery {
   constructor (swarm, topic, { wait = null, suspended = false, onpeer = noop, onerror = safetyCatch }) {
     this.swarm = swarm
-    this.topic = topic
+    this.topic = unslab(topic)
     this.isClient = false
     this.isServer = false
     this.destroyed = false
diff --git a/lib/peer-info.js b/lib/peer-info.js
index 6d601ee..55f8005 100644
--- a/lib/peer-info.js
+++ b/lib/peer-info.js
@@ -95,7 +95,10 @@ module.exports = class PeerInfo extends EventEmitter {
   _topic (topic) {
     const topicString = b4a.toString(topic, 'hex')
     if (this._seenTopics.has(topicString)) return
+
     this._seenTopics.add(topicString)
+
+    topic = unslab(topic)
     this.topics.push(topic)
     this.emit('topic', topic)
   }