diff --git a/waku/waku_peer_exchange/protocol.nim b/waku/waku_peer_exchange/protocol.nim
index 0d00cfb0f1..e70afe16c7 100644
--- a/waku/waku_peer_exchange/protocol.nim
+++ b/waku/waku_peer_exchange/protocol.nim
@@ -217,7 +217,9 @@ proc populateEnrCache(wpx: WakuPeerExchange) =
 
 proc updatePxEnrCache(wpx: WakuPeerExchange) {.async.} =
   # try more aggressively to fill the cache at startup
-  while wpx.enrCache.len < MaxPeersCacheSize:
+  var attempts = 10
+  while wpx.enrCache.len < MaxPeersCacheSize and attempts > 0:
+    attempts -= 1
     wpx.populateEnrCache()
     await sleepAsync(5.seconds)
 
diff --git a/waku/waku_peer_exchange/rpc_codec.nim b/waku/waku_peer_exchange/rpc_codec.nim
index c0288ae39b..b698ffe9f5 100644
--- a/waku/waku_peer_exchange/rpc_codec.nim
+++ b/waku/waku_peer_exchange/rpc_codec.nim
@@ -71,7 +71,11 @@ proc decode*(T: type PeerExchangeResponse, buffer: seq[byte]): ProtobufResult[T]
   if ?pb.getField(10, status_code):
     rpc.status_code = PeerExchangeResponseStatusCode.parse(status_code)
   else:
-    return err(ProtobufError.missingRequiredField("status_code"))
+    # older peers may not support status_code field yet
+    if rpc.peerInfos.len() > 0:
+      rpc.status_code = PeerExchangeResponseStatusCode.SUCCESS
+    else:
+      rpc.status_code = PeerExchangeResponseStatusCode.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
 
   var status_desc: string
   if ?pb.getField(11, status_desc):