diff --git a/packages/core/src/lib/filter/index.ts b/packages/core/src/lib/filter/index.ts
index 5428d84bdf..d571131956 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/lib/filter/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/lib/filter/index.ts
@@ -309,6 +309,10 @@ class Filter extends BaseProtocol implements IReceiver {
       })
     )[0];
 
+    if (!peer) {
+      throw new Error("No peer found to initiate subscription.");
+    }
+
     const subscription =
       this.getActiveSubscription(pubsubTopic, peer.id.toString()) ??
       this.setActiveSubscription(
diff --git a/packages/tests/src/run-tests.js b/packages/tests/src/run-tests.js
index 25d28181ef..1439312010 100644
--- a/packages/tests/src/run-tests.js
+++ b/packages/tests/src/run-tests.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { promisify } from "util";
 
 const execAsync = promisify(exec);
 
-const WAKUNODE_IMAGE = process.env.WAKUNODE_IMAGE || "wakuorg/nwaku:v0.22.0";
+const WAKUNODE_IMAGE = "wakuorg/go-waku:v0.9.0";
 
 async function main() {
   try {
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/filter/multiple_pubsub.node.spec.ts b/packages/tests/tests/filter/multiple_pubsub.node.spec.ts
index ba43471fbe..f56fbe63ed 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/filter/multiple_pubsub.node.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/filter/multiple_pubsub.node.spec.ts
@@ -387,10 +387,14 @@ describe("Waku Filter V2 (Named sharding): Multiple PubsubTopics", function () {
 
   this.beforeEach(async function () {
     this.timeout(15000);
-    [nwaku, waku] = await runNodes(this, [
-      customPubsubTopic1,
-      customPubsubTopic2
-    ]);
+    [nwaku, waku] = await runNodes(
+      this,
+      [customPubsubTopic1, customPubsubTopic2],
+      {
+        clusterId: 3,
+        shards: [1, 2]
+      }
+    );
     subscription = await waku.filter.createSubscription(customPubsubTopic1);
     messageCollector = new MessageCollector();
   });
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/filter/utils.ts b/packages/tests/tests/filter/utils.ts
index c7a929cfa2..3d201fae67 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/filter/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/filter/utils.ts
@@ -79,12 +79,22 @@ export async function runNodes(
     log.error("jswaku node failed to start:", error);
   }
 
-  if (waku) {
-    await waku.dial(await nwaku.getMultiaddrWithId());
-    await waitForRemotePeer(waku, [Protocols.Filter, Protocols.LightPush]);
-    await nwaku.ensureSubscriptions(pubsubTopics);
-    return [nwaku, waku];
-  } else {
+  if (!waku) {
     throw new Error("Failed to initialize waku");
   }
+
+  await waku.dial(await nwaku.getMultiaddrWithId());
+  await waitForRemotePeer(waku, [Protocols.Filter, Protocols.LightPush]);
+  await nwaku.ensureSubscriptions(pubsubTopics);
+
+  const wakuPeers = await waku.libp2p.peerStore.all();
+  const nwakuPeers = await nwaku.peers();
+
+  if (wakuPeers.length < 1 || nwakuPeers.length < 1) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Expected at least 1 peer in each node. Got waku: ${wakuPeers.length} and nwaku: ${nwakuPeers.length}`
+    );
+  }
+
+  return [nwaku, waku];
 }
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/peer_exchange.node.spec.ts b/packages/tests/tests/peer_exchange.node.spec.ts
index 996e1e1adc..fd9dc777c6 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/peer_exchange.node.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/peer_exchange.node.spec.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { makeLogFileName } from "../src/log_file.js";
 import { NimGoNode } from "../src/node/node.js";
 
 describe("Peer Exchange", () => {
+  // TODO: fails for a long time
   describe("Locally Run Nodes", () => {
     let waku: LightNode;
     let nwaku1: NimGoNode;
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts b/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts
index 74ad7219f1..62d1d98143 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts
@@ -342,13 +342,22 @@ describe("Waku Store (named sharding), custom pubsub topic", function () {
     nwaku = new NimGoNode(makeLogFileName(this));
     await nwaku.start({
       store: true,
-      pubsubTopic: [customShardedPubsubTopic1, customShardedPubsubTopic2],
-      relay: true
+      relay: true,
+      pubsubTopic: [customShardedPubsubTopic1, customShardedPubsubTopic2]
     });
     await nwaku.ensureSubscriptions([
       customShardedPubsubTopic1,
       customShardedPubsubTopic2
     ]);
+
+    waku = await startAndConnectLightNode(
+      nwaku,
+      [customShardedPubsubTopic1, customShardedPubsubTopic2],
+      {
+        clusterId: 3,
+        shards: [1, 2]
+      }
+    );
   });
 
   afterEach(async function () {
@@ -363,10 +372,7 @@ describe("Waku Store (named sharding), custom pubsub topic", function () {
       customContentTopic1,
       customShardedPubsubTopic1
     );
-    waku = await startAndConnectLightNode(nwaku, [
-      customShardedPubsubTopic1,
-      customShardedPubsubTopic2
-    ]);
+
     const messages = await processQueriedMessages(
       waku,
       [customDecoder1],
@@ -397,11 +403,6 @@ describe("Waku Store (named sharding), custom pubsub topic", function () {
       customShardedPubsubTopic2
     );
 
-    waku = await startAndConnectLightNode(nwaku, [
-      customShardedPubsubTopic1,
-      customShardedPubsubTopic2
-    ]);
-
     const customMessages = await processQueriedMessages(
       waku,
       [customDecoder1],
@@ -451,13 +452,6 @@ describe("Waku Store (named sharding), custom pubsub topic", function () {
       customShardedPubsubTopic2
     );
 
-    waku = await createLightNode({
-      staticNoiseKey: NOISE_KEY_1,
-      pubsubTopics: [customShardedPubsubTopic1, customShardedPubsubTopic2]
-    });
-    await waku.start();
-
-    await waku.dial(await nwaku.getMultiaddrWithId());
     await waku.dial(await nwaku2.getMultiaddrWithId());
     await waitForRemotePeer(waku, [Protocols.Store]);
 
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/store/utils.ts b/packages/tests/tests/store/utils.ts
index 252df84cb0..d6a1360de0 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/store/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/store/utils.ts
@@ -107,16 +107,27 @@ export async function startAndConnectLightNode(
   shardInfo?: ShardingParams
 ): Promise<LightNode> {
   const waku = await createLightNode({
+    pubsubTopics: shardInfo ? undefined : pubsubTopics,
+    staticNoiseKey: NOISE_KEY_1,
+    libp2p: { addresses: { listen: ["/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/0/ws"] } },
     ...((pubsubTopics.length !== 1 ||
       pubsubTopics[0] !== DefaultPubsubTopic) && {
       shardInfo: shardInfo
-    }),
-    pubsubTopics: shardInfo ? undefined : pubsubTopics,
-    staticNoiseKey: NOISE_KEY_1
+    })
   });
   await waku.start();
   await waku.dial(await instance.getMultiaddrWithId());
   await waitForRemotePeer(waku, [Protocols.Store]);
+
+  const wakuPeers = await waku.libp2p.peerStore.all();
+  const nwakuPeers = await instance.peers();
+
+  if (wakuPeers.length < 1 || nwakuPeers.length < 1) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Expected at least 1 peer in each node. Got waku: ${wakuPeers.length} and nwaku: ${nwakuPeers.length}`
+    );
+  }
+
   log.info("Waku node created");
   return waku;
 }