diff --git a/app.js b/app.js
index cacbaa7..b3a2a12 100644
--- a/app.js
+++ b/app.js
@@ -241,6 +241,11 @@ async function handleConnection(connection, info) {
 }
 
 function retryConnection(topicBuffer) {
+  if (!topicBuffer || !topicBuffer.buffer) {
+    console.error('Invalid topicBuffer:', topicBuffer);
+    return;
+  }
+
   const topic = b4a.toString(topicBuffer, 'hex');
   const room = activeRooms.find(room => room.topic === topic);
   if (room) {