diff --git a/eth/catalyst/simulated_beacon.go b/eth/catalyst/simulated_beacon.go
index b84df9a4d6..0642d6a1ad 100644
--- a/eth/catalyst/simulated_beacon.go
+++ b/eth/catalyst/simulated_beacon.go
@@ -208,6 +208,12 @@ func (c *SimulatedBeacon) sealBlock(withdrawals []*types.Withdrawal, timestamp u
 		return errors.New("chain rewind prevented invocation of payload creation")
 	}
 
+	// If the payload was already known, we can skip the rest of the process.
+	// This edge case is possible due to a race condition between seal and debug.setHead.
+	if fcResponse.PayloadStatus.Status == engine.VALID && fcResponse.PayloadID == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	envelope, err := c.engineAPI.getPayload(*fcResponse.PayloadID, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err