diff --git a/protocol/v1/p2p/min_peers.go b/protocol/v1/p2p/min_peers.go
index 76849ec8f3..20d2d6969a 100644
--- a/protocol/v1/p2p/min_peers.go
+++ b/protocol/v1/p2p/min_peers.go
@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@ func WaitForMinPeers(pctx context.Context, logger *zap.Logger, subscriber Subscr
 			logger.Warn("could not get peers of topic", zap.Error(err))
 			continue
 		}
-		if len(peers) >= minPeers {
+		n := len(peers)
+		if n >= minPeers {
 			return nil
 		}
+		logger.Debug("looking for min peers", zap.Int("expected", minPeers), zap.Int("actual", n))
 	}
 
 	return ctx.Err()
diff --git a/protocol/v1/qbft/controller/msgqueue_consumer.go b/protocol/v1/qbft/controller/msgqueue_consumer.go
index 154ef3def1..d3f1760af3 100644
--- a/protocol/v1/qbft/controller/msgqueue_consumer.go
+++ b/protocol/v1/qbft/controller/msgqueue_consumer.go
@@ -133,12 +133,11 @@ func (c *Controller) processNoRunningInstance(
 // processByState if an instance is running -> get the state and get the relevant messages
 func (c *Controller) processByState(handler MessageHandler, identifier string) bool {
 	currentInstance := c.GetCurrentInstance()
-	if c.GetCurrentInstance() == nil {
+	if currentInstance == nil {
 		return false
 	}
 
 	var msg *spectypes.SSVMessage
-
 	currentState := currentInstance.GetState()
 	msg = c.getNextMsgForState(currentState, identifier)
 	if msg == nil {
diff --git a/protocol/v1/qbft/msgqueue/queue.go b/protocol/v1/qbft/msgqueue/queue.go
index 3ab5e5691b..f375829b26 100644
--- a/protocol/v1/qbft/msgqueue/queue.go
+++ b/protocol/v1/qbft/msgqueue/queue.go
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@ package msgqueue
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	spectypes "github.com/bloxapp/ssv-spec/types"
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
 	spec "github.com/attestantio/go-eth2-client/spec/phase0"
 	specqbft "github.com/bloxapp/ssv-spec/qbft"
+	spectypes "github.com/bloxapp/ssv-spec/types"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
@@ -187,14 +187,24 @@ func (q *queue) Peek(n int, idx Index) []*spectypes.SSVMessage {
 
 // WithIterator looping through all indexes and return true when relevant and pop
 func (q *queue) WithIterator(n int, peek bool, iterator func(index Index) bool) []*spectypes.SSVMessage {
+	indices := make([]Index, 0, len(q.items))
+
+	q.itemsLock.RLock()
 	for k := range q.items {
-		if iterator(k) {
-			if peek {
-				return q.Peek(n, k)
-			}
-			return q.Pop(n, k)
+		indices = append(indices, k)
+	}
+	q.itemsLock.RUnlock()
+
+	for _, idx := range indices {
+		if !iterator(idx) {
+			continue
 		}
+		if peek {
+			return q.Peek(n, idx)
+		}
+		return q.Pop(n, idx)
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }