diff --git a/network/p2p/p2p.go b/network/p2p/p2p.go
index 7972bcb762..e75317f421 100644
--- a/network/p2p/p2p.go
+++ b/network/p2p/p2p.go
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ func (n *p2pNetwork) peersBalancing(logger *zap.Logger) func() {
 
 		const maxPeersToDrop = 1
 		immunityQuota := len(connectedPeers) - maxPeersToDrop
-		protectedPeers := n.PeerProtection(connectedPeers, mySubnets, immunityQuota)
+		protectedPeers := n.PeerProtection(immunityQuota)
 		for _, peer := range connectedPeers {
 			if _, ok := protectedPeers[peer]; ok {
 				n.libConnManager.Protect(peer, peers.ProtectedTag)
@@ -320,36 +320,54 @@ func (n *p2pNetwork) peersBalancing(logger *zap.Logger) func() {
 // - Prefer peers that you have more shared subents with.
 // - Protect at most immunityQuota peers.
 func (n *p2pNetwork) PeerProtection(
-	myPeers []peer.ID,
-	mySubnets records.Subnets,
 	immunityQuota int,
 ) map[peer.ID]struct{} {
-	commonSubnets := make(map[int]struct{})
 
-	for _, p := range myPeers {
-		peerSubnets := n.idx.GetPeerSubnets(p)
-		for i, a := range mySubnets {
-			if a == 1 && peerSubnets[i] == 1 {
-				commonSubnets[i] = struct{}{}
+	protectedPeers := make(map[peer.ID]struct{})
+
+	tpcs := n.topicsCtrl.Topics()
+	peerz := make(map[string][]peer.ID, len(tpcs))
+	for _, tpc := range tpcs {
+		var err error
+		peerz[tpc], err = n.topicsCtrl.Peers(tpc)
+		if err != nil {
+			n.interfaceLogger.Error("Cant get peers from topics, skipping to keep the network running", zap.Error(err))
+			continue
+		}
+	}
+
+	sharedTopics := func(peerID peer.ID) int {
+		shared := 0
+		for _, tpc := range tpcs {
+			if slices.Contains(peerz[tpc], peerID) {
+				shared++
 			}
 		}
+		return shared
 	}
 
-	protectedPeers := make(map[peer.ID]struct{})
-	for subnet, _ := range commonSubnets {
-		subnetPeers := n.idx.GetSubnetPeers(subnet)
-		slices.SortFunc(subnetPeers, func(a, b peer.ID) int {
-			x := len(records.SharedSubnets(mySubnets, n.idx.GetPeerSubnets(a), 0))
-			y := len(records.SharedSubnets(mySubnets, n.idx.GetPeerSubnets(b), 0))
+	// for each topic we have peers in, sort the peers by the numbers of topics they present in
+	// and protect the top 2 peers in each topic, if there's only one peer in that topic, always protect it.
+	for _, tpc := range tpcs {
+		peersInTopic := peerz[tpc]
+		if len(peersInTopic) == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		if len(peersInTopic) == 1 {
+			protectedPeers[peersInTopic[0]] = struct{}{}
+			immunityQuota--
+			continue
+		}
+
+		slices.SortFunc(peersInTopic, func(a, b peer.ID) int {
+			x := sharedTopics(a)
+			y := sharedTopics(b)
 			return x - y // desc order
 		})
-		const minPeersPerSubnet = 2
-		for i := 0; i < min(minPeersPerSubnet, len(subnetPeers)) && immunityQuota > 0; i++ {
-			peerID := subnetPeers[i]
-			if _, ok := protectedPeers[peerID]; ok {
-				continue
-			}
-			protectedPeers[peerID] = struct{}{}
+
+		const minPeersPerTopic = 2
+		for i := 0; i < min(minPeersPerTopic, len(peersInTopic)) && immunityQuota > 0; i++ {
+			protectedPeers[peersInTopic[i]] = struct{}{}
 			immunityQuota--
 		}
 	}