diff --git a/turbo/stages/headerdownload/header_algos.go b/turbo/stages/headerdownload/header_algos.go
index 40234bd20..a0852ac2e 100644
--- a/turbo/stages/headerdownload/header_algos.go
+++ b/turbo/stages/headerdownload/header_algos.go
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ func (hi *HeaderInserter) FeedHeader(db ethdb.StatelessRwTx, header *types.Heade
 	}
 	// Parent's total difficulty
 	parentTd, err := rawdb.ReadTd(db, header.ParentHash, blockHeight-1)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err != nil || parentTd == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("[%s] parent's total difficulty not found with hash %x and height %d for header %x %d: %v", hi.logPrefix, header.ParentHash, blockHeight-1, hash, blockHeight, err)
 	}
 	// Calculate total difficulty of this header using parent's total difficulty