diff --git a/eth/txtracker/tracker.go b/eth/txtracker/tracker.go
index 83d94af33f..842d1776c3 100644
--- a/eth/txtracker/tracker.go
+++ b/eth/txtracker/tracker.go
@@ -131,6 +131,10 @@ func (t *Tracker) NotifyAccepted(peer string, hashes []common.Hash) {
 		t.txs[hash] = peer
 		t.order = append(t.order, hash)
 	}
+	// Ensure the delivering peer has a stats entry.
+	if len(hashes) > 0 && t.peers[peer] == nil {
+		t.peers[peer] = &peerStats{}
+	}
 	// Evict oldest entries if over capacity.
 	for len(t.txs) > maxTracked {
 		oldest := t.order[0]
@@ -192,12 +196,9 @@ func (t *Tracker) handleChainHead(ev core.ChainHeadEvent) {
 			blockIncl[peer]++
 		}
 	}
-	// Ensure peers with inclusions in this block have entries.
-	for peer := range blockIncl {
-		if t.peers[peer] == nil {
-			t.peers[peer] = &peerStats{}
-		}
-	}
+	// Only credit peers that are still tracked (not disconnected).
+	// Don't create entries for unknown peers — they may have been
+	// removed by NotifyPeerDrop and should not be resurrected.
 	// Update EMA for all tracked peers (decay inactive ones).
 	for peer, ps := range t.peers {
 		ps.recentIncluded = (1-emaAlpha)*ps.recentIncluded + emaAlpha*float64(blockIncl[peer])
@@ -231,8 +232,7 @@ func (t *Tracker) checkFinalization() {
 			}
 			ps := t.peers[peer]
 			if ps == nil {
-				ps = &peerStats{}
-				t.peers[peer] = ps
+				continue // peer disconnected, skip credit
 			}
 			ps.finalized++
 			credited++
diff --git a/eth/txtracker/tracker_test.go b/eth/txtracker/tracker_test.go
index 5371c7eb2a..22ddabf0e9 100644
--- a/eth/txtracker/tracker_test.go
+++ b/eth/txtracker/tracker_test.go
@@ -110,10 +110,13 @@ func TestNotifyReceived(t *testing.T) {
 	txs := []*types.Transaction{makeTx(1), makeTx(2), makeTx(3)}
 	tr.NotifyAccepted("peerA", hashTxs(txs))
 
-	// No chain events yet — stats should be empty.
+	// No chain events yet — peer entry exists but with zero stats.
 	stats := tr.GetAllPeerStats()
-	if len(stats) != 0 {
-		t.Fatalf("expected empty stats before any chain events, got %d peers", len(stats))
+	if stats["peerA"].Finalized != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected zero Finalized before chain events, got %d", stats["peerA"].Finalized)
+	}
+	if stats["peerA"].RecentIncluded != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected zero RecentIncluded before chain events, got %f", stats["peerA"].RecentIncluded)
 	}
 }