diff --git a/evm/evm_client.go b/evm/evm_client.go
index 33bee506..70a81814 100644
--- a/evm/evm_client.go
+++ b/evm/evm_client.go
@@ -216,6 +216,14 @@ func (ec *Client) StateLastEventNonce(opts *bind.CallOpts) (uint64, error) {
 	return nonce.Uint64(), nil
 }
 
+func (ec *Client) StateLastValidatorSetCheckpoint(opts *bind.CallOpts) ([32]byte, error) {
+	checkpoint, err := ec.Wrapper.StateLastValidatorSetCheckpoint(opts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return [32]byte{}, err
+	}
+	return checkpoint, nil
+}
+
 func (ec *Client) WaitForTransaction(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	backend bind.DeployBackend,
diff --git a/relayer/errors.go b/relayer/errors.go
index b21b22e1..6326049d 100644
--- a/relayer/errors.go
+++ b/relayer/errors.go
@@ -8,4 +8,5 @@ var (
 	ErrAttestationNotValsetRequest         = errors.New("attestation is not a valset request")
 	ErrAttestationNotDataCommitmentRequest = errors.New("attestation is not a data commitment request")
 	ErrAttestationNotFound                 = errors.New("attestation not found")
+	ErrValidatorSetMismatch                = errors.New("p2p validator set is different from the trusted contract one")
 )
diff --git a/relayer/relayer.go b/relayer/relayer.go
index 798813fd..79c7cd78 100644
--- a/relayer/relayer.go
+++ b/relayer/relayer.go
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package relayer
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/big"
 	"strconv"
@@ -144,12 +146,10 @@ func (r *Relayer) ProcessAttestation(ctx context.Context, opts *bind.TransactOpt
 	previousValset, err := r.AppQuerier.QueryLastValsetBeforeNonce(ctx, attI.GetNonce())
 	if err != nil {
 		r.logger.Error("failed to query the last valset before nonce (probably pruned). recovering via falling back to the P2P network", "err", err.Error())
-		latestValset, err := r.P2PQuerier.QueryLatestValset(ctx)
+		previousValset, err = r.QueryValsetFromP2PNetworkAndValidateIt(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		previousValset = latestValset.ToValset()
-		r.logger.Info("using the latest valset from P2P network. if the valset is malicious, the Blobstream contract will not accept it", "nonce", previousValset.Nonce)
 	}
 	switch att := attI.(type) {
 	case *celestiatypes.Valset:
@@ -194,6 +194,39 @@ func (r *Relayer) ProcessAttestation(ctx context.Context, opts *bind.TransactOpt
 	}
 }
 
+// QueryValsetFromP2PNetworkAndValidateIt Queries the latest valset from the P2P network
+// and validates it against the validator set hash used in the contract.
+func (r *Relayer) QueryValsetFromP2PNetworkAndValidateIt(ctx context.Context) (*celestiatypes.Valset, error) {
+	latestValset, err := r.P2PQuerier.QueryLatestValset(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	vs := latestValset.ToValset()
+	vsHash, err := vs.SignBytes()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	r.logger.Info("found the latest valset in P2P network. Authenticating it against the contract to verify it's valid", "nonce", vs.Nonce, "hash", vsHash.Hex())
+
+	contractHash, err := r.EVMClient.StateLastValidatorSetCheckpoint(&bind.CallOpts{Context: ctx})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	bzVSHash, err := hex.DecodeString(vsHash.Hex()[2:])
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if !bytes.Equal(bzVSHash, contractHash[:]) {
+		r.logger.Error("valset hash from contract mismatches that of P2P one, halting. try running the relayer with an archive node to continue relaying", "contract_vs_hash", ethcmn.Bytes2Hex(contractHash[:]), "p2p_vs_hash", vsHash.Hex())
+		return nil, ErrValidatorSetMismatch
+	}
+
+	r.logger.Info("valset is valid. continuing relaying using the latest valset from P2P network", "nonce", vs.Nonce)
+	return vs, nil
+}
+
 func (r *Relayer) UpdateValidatorSet(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	opts *bind.TransactOpts,
diff --git a/relayer/relayer_test.go b/relayer/relayer_test.go
index 72701a30..887f1021 100644
--- a/relayer/relayer_test.go
+++ b/relayer/relayer_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package relayer_test
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"math/big"
 	"testing"
@@ -118,3 +119,37 @@ func TestUseValsetFromP2P(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, att.Nonce, lastNonce)
 }
+
+func (s *RelayerTestSuite) TestQueryValsetFromP2P() {
+	t := s.T()
+	_, err := s.Node.CelestiaNetwork.WaitForHeightWithTimeout(400, 30*time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	// process valset nonce so that it is added to the DHT
+	vs, err := s.Orchestrator.AppQuerier.QueryLatestValset(ctx)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = s.Orchestrator.ProcessValsetEvent(ctx, *vs)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// the valset should be in the DHT
+	_, err = s.Orchestrator.P2PQuerier.QueryLatestValset(ctx)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// query the valset and authenticate it
+	p2pVS, err := s.Relayer.QueryValsetFromP2PNetworkAndValidateIt(ctx)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// check if the valset is the same
+	assert.Equal(t, vs.Nonce, p2pVS.Nonce)
+	assert.Equal(t, vs.Height, p2pVS.Height)
+
+	// check if the hash is the same
+	appVSHash, err := vs.Hash()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	p2pVSHash, err := p2pVS.Hash()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.True(t, bytes.Equal(appVSHash.Bytes(), p2pVSHash.Bytes()))
+}