diff --git a/swarm/pss/api.go b/swarm/pss/api.go
index 587382d729..17e483d256 100644
--- a/swarm/pss/api.go
+++ b/swarm/pss/api.go
@@ -157,14 +157,23 @@ func (pssapi *API) StringToTopic(topicstring string) (Topic, error) {
 }
 
 func (pssapi *API) SendAsym(pubkeyhex string, topic Topic, msg hexutil.Bytes) error {
+	if !checkMsg(msg) {
+		return errors.New("invalid message")
+	}
 	return pssapi.Pss.SendAsym(pubkeyhex, topic, msg[:])
 }
 
 func (pssapi *API) SendSym(symkeyhex string, topic Topic, msg hexutil.Bytes) error {
+	if !checkMsg(msg) {
+		return errors.New("invalid message")
+	}
 	return pssapi.Pss.SendSym(symkeyhex, topic, msg[:])
 }
 
 func (pssapi *API) SendRaw(addr hexutil.Bytes, topic Topic, msg hexutil.Bytes) error {
+	if !checkMsg(msg) {
+		return errors.New("invalid message")
+	}
 	return pssapi.Pss.SendRaw(PssAddress(addr), topic, msg[:])
 }
 
@@ -177,3 +186,10 @@ func (pssapi *API) GetPeerTopics(pubkeyhex string) ([]Topic, error) {
 func (pssapi *API) GetPeerAddress(pubkeyhex string, topic Topic) (PssAddress, error) {
 	return pssapi.Pss.getPeerAddress(pubkeyhex, topic)
 }
+
+func checkMsg(msg []byte) bool {
+	if msg == nil || len(msg) == 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/swarm/pss/pss.go b/swarm/pss/pss.go
index d0986d280b..40bb408fa4 100644
--- a/swarm/pss/pss.go
+++ b/swarm/pss/pss.go
@@ -396,9 +396,11 @@ func (p *Pss) handlePssMsg(ctx context.Context, msg interface{}) error {
 	// raw is simplest handler contingency to check, so check that first
 	var isRaw bool
 	if pssmsg.isRaw() {
-		if !p.topicHandlerCaps[psstopic].raw {
-			log.Debug("No handler for raw message", "topic", psstopic)
-			return nil
+		if _, ok := p.topicHandlerCaps[psstopic]; ok {
+			if !p.topicHandlerCaps[psstopic].raw {
+				log.Debug("No handler for raw message", "topic", psstopic)
+				return nil
+			}
 		}
 		isRaw = true
 	}
@@ -529,6 +531,9 @@ func (p *Pss) isSelfPossibleRecipient(msg *PssMsg, prox bool) bool {
 // The value in `address` will be used as a routing hint for the
 // public key / topic association
 func (p *Pss) SetPeerPublicKey(pubkey *ecdsa.PublicKey, topic Topic, address *PssAddress) error {
+	if !checkAddress(address) {
+		return errors.New("invalid address")
+	}
 	pubkeybytes := crypto.FromECDSAPub(pubkey)
 	if len(pubkeybytes) == 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid public key: %v", pubkey)
@@ -570,6 +575,9 @@ func (p *Pss) GenerateSymmetricKey(topic Topic, address *PssAddress, addToCache
 // Returns a string id that can be used to retrieve the key bytes
 // from the whisper backend (see pss.GetSymmetricKey())
 func (p *Pss) SetSymmetricKey(key []byte, topic Topic, address *PssAddress, addtocache bool) (string, error) {
+	if !checkAddress(address) {
+		return "", errors.New("invalid address")
+	}
 	return p.setSymmetricKey(key, topic, address, addtocache, true)
 }
 
@@ -770,8 +778,10 @@ func (p *Pss) SendRaw(address PssAddress, topic Topic, msg []byte) error {
 
 	// if we have a proxhandler on this topic
 	// also deliver message to ourselves
-	if p.isSelfPossibleRecipient(pssMsg, true) && p.topicHandlerCaps[topic].prox {
-		return p.process(pssMsg, true, true)
+	if _, ok := p.topicHandlerCaps[topic]; ok {
+		if p.isSelfPossibleRecipient(pssMsg, true) && p.topicHandlerCaps[topic].prox {
+			return p.process(pssMsg, true, true)
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -1034,3 +1044,10 @@ func (p *Pss) digestBytes(msg []byte) pssDigest {
 	copy(digest[:], key[:digestLength])
 	return digest
 }
+
+func checkAddress(addr *PssAddress) bool {
+	if len(*addr) > addressLength {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/swarm/pss/pss_test.go b/swarm/pss/pss_test.go
index 72f62acd94..0f25c85d3b 100644
--- a/swarm/pss/pss_test.go
+++ b/swarm/pss/pss_test.go
@@ -1008,6 +1008,28 @@ func TestRawAllow(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// BELOW HERE ARE TESTS USING THE SIMULATION FRAMEWORK
+
+// tests that the API layer can handle edge case values
+func TestApi(t *testing.T) {
+	clients, err := setupNetwork(2, true)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	topic := "0xdeadbeef"
+
+	err = clients[0].Call(nil, "pss_sendRaw", "0x", topic, "0x666f6f")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	err = clients[0].Call(nil, "pss_sendRaw", "0xabcdef", topic, "0x")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error on empty msg")
+	}
+}
+
 // verifies that nodes can send and receive raw (verbatim) messages
 func TestSendRaw(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("32", testSendRaw)