diff --git a/pychunkedgraph/graph/chunkedgraph.py b/pychunkedgraph/graph/chunkedgraph.py
index 66f275908..8ac2837ed 100644
--- a/pychunkedgraph/graph/chunkedgraph.py
+++ b/pychunkedgraph/graph/chunkedgraph.py
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ def get_atomic_cross_edges(
                 node_ids=l2_ids,
                 properties=[
                     attributes.Connectivity.CrossChunkEdge[l]
-                    for l in range(2, self.meta.layer_count)
+                    for l in range(2, max(3, self.meta.layer_count))
                 ],
             )
             result = {}
diff --git a/pychunkedgraph/graph/client/bigtable/utils.py b/pychunkedgraph/graph/client/bigtable/utils.py
index a940789f9..2d30eeb32 100644
--- a/pychunkedgraph/graph/client/bigtable/utils.py
+++ b/pychunkedgraph/graph/client/bigtable/utils.py
@@ -129,6 +129,10 @@ def get_time_range_and_column_filter(
     )
     filters = [time_filter]
     if columns is not None:
+        if len(columns) == 0:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Empty column filter {columns} is ambiguous. Pass `None` if no column filter should be applied."
+            )
         column_filter = _get_column_filter(columns)
         filters = [column_filter, time_filter]
     if user_id is not None: