diff --git a/internal/statesync/reactor.go b/internal/statesync/reactor.go
index a20c8ca41..abfa973b5 100644
--- a/internal/statesync/reactor.go
+++ b/internal/statesync/reactor.go
@@ -280,6 +280,7 @@ func (r *Reactor) Sync(ctx context.Context) (sm.State, error) {
 	}
 
 	if err := r.initStateProvider(ctx, r.chainID, r.initialHeight); err != nil {
+		r.mtx.Unlock()
 		return sm.State{}, err
 	}
 
@@ -889,17 +890,20 @@ func (r *Reactor) processPeerUpdate(peerUpdate p2p.PeerUpdate) {
 	}
 
 	r.mtx.Lock()
+	defer r.mtx.Unlock()
 	if r.syncer == nil {
-		r.mtx.Unlock()
 		return
 	}
-	defer r.mtx.Unlock()
 
 	switch peerUpdate.Status {
 	case p2p.PeerStatusUp:
 		newProvider := NewBlockProvider(peerUpdate.NodeID, r.chainID, r.dispatcher)
 		r.providers[peerUpdate.NodeID] = newProvider
-		r.syncer.AddPeer(peerUpdate.NodeID)
+		err := r.syncer.AddPeer(peerUpdate.NodeID)
+		if err != nil {
+			r.Logger.Error("error adding peer to syncer", "error", err)
+			return
+		}
 		if sp, ok := r.stateProvider.(*stateProviderP2P); ok {
 			// we do this in a separate routine to not block whilst waiting for the light client to finish
 			// whatever call it's currently executing
diff --git a/internal/statesync/syncer.go b/internal/statesync/syncer.go
index 68bec6880..b4212961a 100644
--- a/internal/statesync/syncer.go
+++ b/internal/statesync/syncer.go
@@ -141,7 +141,17 @@ func (s *syncer) AddSnapshot(peerID types.NodeID, snapshot *snapshot) (bool, err
 
 // AddPeer adds a peer to the pool. For now we just keep it simple and send a
 // single request to discover snapshots, later we may want to do retries and stuff.
-func (s *syncer) AddPeer(peerID types.NodeID) {
+func (s *syncer) AddPeer(peerID types.NodeID) (err error) {
+	defer func() {
+		// TODO: remove panic recover once AddPeer can no longer accientally send on
+		// closed channel.
+		// This recover was added to protect against the p2p message being sent
+		// to the snapshot channel after the snapshot channel was closed.
+		if r := recover(); r != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("panic sending peer snapshot request: %v", r)
+		}
+	}()
+
 	s.logger.Debug("Requesting snapshots from peer", "peer", peerID)
 
 	msg := p2p.Envelope{
@@ -153,6 +163,7 @@ func (s *syncer) AddPeer(peerID types.NodeID) {
 	case <-s.closeCh:
 	case s.snapshotCh <- msg:
 	}
+	return err
 }
 
 // RemovePeer removes a peer from the pool.
diff --git a/internal/statesync/syncer_test.go b/internal/statesync/syncer_test.go
index 14297c049..ad902a54c 100644
--- a/internal/statesync/syncer_test.go
+++ b/internal/statesync/syncer_test.go
@@ -77,12 +77,14 @@ func TestSyncer_SyncAny(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Error(t, err)
 
 	// Adding a couple of peers should trigger snapshot discovery messages
-	rts.syncer.AddPeer(peerAID)
+	err = rts.syncer.AddPeer(peerAID)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 	e := <-rts.snapshotOutCh
 	require.Equal(t, &ssproto.SnapshotsRequest{}, e.Message)
 	require.Equal(t, peerAID, e.To)
 
-	rts.syncer.AddPeer(peerBID)
+	err = rts.syncer.AddPeer(peerBID)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 	e = <-rts.snapshotOutCh
 	require.Equal(t, &ssproto.SnapshotsRequest{}, e.Message)
 	require.Equal(t, peerBID, e.To)