diff --git a/cmd/flowlogs-pipeline/main.go b/cmd/flowlogs-pipeline/main.go
index c2e1fac9e..fbb39dea9 100644
--- a/cmd/flowlogs-pipeline/main.go
+++ b/cmd/flowlogs-pipeline/main.go
@@ -106,7 +106,10 @@ func initLogger() {
 }
 
 func dumpConfig(opts config.Options) {
-	configAsJSON, _ := json.MarshalIndent(opts, "", "    ")
+	configAsJSON, err := json.MarshalIndent(opts, "", "    ")
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("error dumping config: %v", err))
+	}
 	fmt.Printf("Using configuration:\n%s\n", configAsJSON)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/encode/encode_kafka.go b/pkg/pipeline/encode/encode_kafka.go
index 44ee57222..7dcf0f24f 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/encode/encode_kafka.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/encode/encode_kafka.go
@@ -49,11 +49,16 @@ type encodeKafka struct {
 // Encode writes entries to kafka topic
 func (r *encodeKafka) Encode(entry config.GenericMap) {
 	var entryByteArray []byte
-	entryByteArray, _ = json.Marshal(entry)
+	var err error
+	entryByteArray, err = json.Marshal(entry)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("encodeKafka error: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
 	msg := kafkago.Message{
 		Value: entryByteArray,
 	}
-	err := r.kafkaWriter.WriteMessages(context.Background(), msg)
+	err = r.kafkaWriter.WriteMessages(context.Background(), msg)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("encodeKafka error: %v", err)
 	} else {
diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate.go b/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate.go
index 2c106e5bb..b96b14dff 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate.go
@@ -153,22 +153,26 @@ func (aggregate *Aggregate) UpdateByEntry(entry config.GenericMap, normalizedVal
 			value, ok := entry[operationKey]
 			if ok {
 				valueString := fmt.Sprintf("%v", value)
-				valueFloat64, _ := strconv.ParseFloat(valueString, 64)
-				switch operation {
-				case OperationSum:
-					groupState.totalValue += valueFloat64
-					groupState.recentOpValue += valueFloat64
-				case OperationMax:
-					groupState.totalValue = math.Max(groupState.totalValue, valueFloat64)
-					groupState.recentOpValue = math.Max(groupState.recentOpValue, valueFloat64)
-				case OperationMin:
-					groupState.totalValue = math.Min(groupState.totalValue, valueFloat64)
-					groupState.recentOpValue = math.Min(groupState.recentOpValue, valueFloat64)
-				case OperationAvg:
-					groupState.totalValue = (groupState.totalValue*float64(groupState.totalCount) + valueFloat64) / float64(groupState.totalCount+1)
-					groupState.recentOpValue = (groupState.recentOpValue*float64(groupState.recentCount) + valueFloat64) / float64(groupState.recentCount+1)
-				case OperationRawValues:
-					groupState.recentRawValues = append(groupState.recentRawValues, valueFloat64)
+				if valueFloat64, err := strconv.ParseFloat(valueString, 64); err != nil {
+					// Log as debug to avoid performance impact
+					log.Debugf("UpdateByEntry error when parsing float '%s': %v", valueString, err)
+				} else {
+					switch operation {
+					case OperationSum:
+						groupState.totalValue += valueFloat64
+						groupState.recentOpValue += valueFloat64
+					case OperationMax:
+						groupState.totalValue = math.Max(groupState.totalValue, valueFloat64)
+						groupState.recentOpValue = math.Max(groupState.recentOpValue, valueFloat64)
+					case OperationMin:
+						groupState.totalValue = math.Min(groupState.totalValue, valueFloat64)
+						groupState.recentOpValue = math.Min(groupState.recentOpValue, valueFloat64)
+					case OperationAvg:
+						groupState.totalValue = (groupState.totalValue*float64(groupState.totalCount) + valueFloat64) / float64(groupState.totalCount+1)
+						groupState.recentOpValue = (groupState.recentOpValue*float64(groupState.recentCount) + valueFloat64) / float64(groupState.recentCount+1)
+					case OperationRawValues:
+						groupState.recentRawValues = append(groupState.recentRawValues, valueFloat64)
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate_test.go b/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate_test.go
index c1471d27e..c0caf1c35 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate_test.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/extract/aggregate/aggregate_test.go
@@ -145,5 +145,5 @@ func Test_GetMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, len(metrics), 1)
 	require.Equal(t, metrics[0]["name"], aggregate.Definition.Name)
 	valueFloat64 := metrics[0]["total_value"].(float64)
-	require.Equal(t, valueFloat64, float64(7))
+	require.Equal(t, float64(7), valueFloat64)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/extract/timebased/filters.go b/pkg/pipeline/extract/timebased/filters.go
index 060e386a2..c556ec975 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/extract/timebased/filters.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/extract/timebased/filters.go
@@ -84,15 +84,19 @@ func (fs *FilterStruct) CalculateValue(l *list.List, oldestValidTime time.Time)
 			// entry is out of time range; ignore it
 			continue
 		}
-		valueFloat64, _ := utils.ConvertToFloat64(cEntry.entry[fs.Rule.OperationKey])
-		nItems++
-		switch fs.Rule.OperationType {
-		case api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationSum"), api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationAvg"):
-			currentValue += valueFloat64
-		case api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationMax"):
-			currentValue = math.Max(currentValue, valueFloat64)
-		case api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationMin"):
-			currentValue = math.Min(currentValue, valueFloat64)
+		if valueFloat64, err := utils.ConvertToFloat64(cEntry.entry[fs.Rule.OperationKey]); err != nil {
+			// Log as debug to avoid performance impact
+			log.Debugf("CalculateValue error with OperationKey %s: %v", fs.Rule.OperationKey, err)
+		} else {
+			nItems++
+			switch fs.Rule.OperationType {
+			case api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationSum"), api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationAvg"):
+				currentValue += valueFloat64
+			case api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationMax"):
+				currentValue = math.Max(currentValue, valueFloat64)
+			case api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationMin"):
+				currentValue = math.Min(currentValue, valueFloat64)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	if fs.Rule.OperationType == api.FilterOperationName("FilterOperationAvg") && nItems > 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_kafka.go b/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_kafka.go
index eb5e895ad..ddce03ac9 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_kafka.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_kafka.go
@@ -175,8 +175,12 @@ func (k *ingestKafka) reportStats() {
 func NewIngestKafka(opMetrics *operational.Metrics, params config.StageParam) (Ingester, error) {
 	klog.Debugf("entering NewIngestKafka")
 	jsonIngestKafka := api.IngestKafka{}
-	if params.Ingest != nil && params.Ingest.Kafka != nil {
-		jsonIngestKafka = *params.Ingest.Kafka
+	var ingestType string
+	if params.Ingest != nil {
+		ingestType = params.Ingest.Type
+		if params.Ingest.Kafka != nil {
+			jsonIngestKafka = *params.Ingest.Kafka
+		}
 	}
 
 	// connect to the kafka server
@@ -278,7 +282,7 @@ func NewIngestKafka(opMetrics *operational.Metrics, params config.StageParam) (I
 	}
 
 	in := make(chan []byte, 2*bml)
-	metrics := newMetrics(opMetrics, params.Name, params.Ingest.Type, func() int { return len(in) })
+	metrics := newMetrics(opMetrics, params.Name, ingestType, func() int { return len(in) })
 
 	return &ingestKafka{
 		kafkaReader:      kafkaReader,
diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_synthetic.go b/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_synthetic.go
index d133da060..c8da4e1e1 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_synthetic.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/ingest/ingest_synthetic.go
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ func (ingestS *IngestSynthetic) Ingest(out chan<- config.GenericMap) {
 func NewIngestSynthetic(opMetrics *operational.Metrics, params config.StageParam) (Ingester, error) {
 	log.Debugf("entering NewIngestSynthetic")
 	confIngestSynthetic := api.IngestSynthetic{}
-	if params.Ingest != nil || params.Ingest.Synthetic != nil {
+	if params.Ingest != nil && params.Ingest.Synthetic != nil {
 		confIngestSynthetic = *params.Ingest.Synthetic
 	}
 	if confIngestSynthetic.Connections == 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/write/write_ipfix.go b/pkg/pipeline/write/write_ipfix.go
index 7a66b6458..724eda370 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/write/write_ipfix.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/write/write_ipfix.go
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ func NewWriteIpfix(params config.StageParam) (Writer, error) {
 	// Initialize IPFIX registry and send templates
 	registry.LoadRegistry()
 	var err error
-	if params.Write.Ipfix.EnterpriseID != 0 {
+	if params.Write != nil && params.Write.Ipfix != nil && params.Write.Ipfix.EnterpriseID != 0 {
 		err = loadCustomRegistry(writeIpfix.enrichEnterpriseID)
 		if err != nil {
 			ilog.Fatalf("Failed to load Custom(%d) Registry", writeIpfix.enrichEnterpriseID)