diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/request/StorageRangeDataRequest.java b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/request/StorageRangeDataRequest.java
index 4c50926303..c405e2525e 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/request/StorageRangeDataRequest.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/request/StorageRangeDataRequest.java
@@ -179,6 +179,10 @@ public class StorageRangeDataRequest extends SnapDataRequest {
 
     final StackTrie.TaskElement taskElement = stackTrie.getElement(startKeyHash);
 
+    if (null == taskElement) {
+      return Stream.empty();
+    }
+
     findNewBeginElementInRange(storageRoot, taskElement.proofs(), taskElement.keys(), endKeyHash)
         .ifPresent(
             missingRightElement -> {
diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/NewPooledTransactionHashesMessageHandler.java b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/NewPooledTransactionHashesMessageHandler.java
index ab909eada1..f2e9378fd4 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/NewPooledTransactionHashesMessageHandler.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/NewPooledTransactionHashesMessageHandler.java
@@ -45,11 +45,11 @@ class NewPooledTransactionHashesMessageHandler implements EthMessages.MessageCal
 
   @Override
   public void exec(final EthMessage message) {
-    final Capability capability = message.getPeer().getConnection().capability(EthProtocol.NAME);
-    final NewPooledTransactionHashesMessage transactionsMessage =
-        NewPooledTransactionHashesMessage.readFrom(message.getData(), capability);
-    final Instant startedAt = now();
     if (isEnabled.get()) {
+      final Capability capability = message.getPeer().getConnection().capability(EthProtocol.NAME);
+      final NewPooledTransactionHashesMessage transactionsMessage =
+          NewPooledTransactionHashesMessage.readFrom(message.getData(), capability);
+      final Instant startedAt = now();
       scheduler.scheduleTxWorkerTask(
           () ->
               transactionsMessageProcessor.processNewPooledTransactionHashesMessage(
diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/TransactionsMessageHandler.java b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/TransactionsMessageHandler.java
index 3160d1a9c5..b6bbf442da 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/TransactionsMessageHandler.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/transactions/TransactionsMessageHandler.java
@@ -43,9 +43,10 @@ class TransactionsMessageHandler implements EthMessages.MessageCallback {
 
   @Override
   public void exec(final EthMessage message) {
-    final TransactionsMessage transactionsMessage = TransactionsMessage.readFrom(message.getData());
-    final Instant startedAt = now();
     if (isEnabled.get()) {
+      final TransactionsMessage transactionsMessage =
+          TransactionsMessage.readFrom(message.getData());
+      final Instant startedAt = now();
       scheduler.scheduleTxWorkerTask(
           () ->
               transactionsMessageProcessor.processTransactionsMessage(
diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/CompleteTaskStepTest.java b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/CompleteTaskStepTest.java
index 2bfc58a3b8..b78f2b10e8 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/CompleteTaskStepTest.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/CompleteTaskStepTest.java
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public class CompleteTaskStepTest {
 
   @Test
   public void shouldMarkSnapsyncTaskCompleteWhenData() {
-    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> requests = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(true);
+    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> requests = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(true, false);
     requests.stream()
         .map(StubTask.class::cast)
         .forEach(
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ public class CompleteTaskStepTest {
 
   @Test
   public void shouldMarkSnapsyncTaskAsFailedWhenNoData() {
-    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> requests = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(false);
+    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> requests = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(false, false);
     requests.stream()
         .map(StubTask.class::cast)
         .forEach(
diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/PersistDataStepTest.java b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/PersistDataStepTest.java
index 766995b094..963293be0c 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/PersistDataStepTest.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/PersistDataStepTest.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public class PersistDataStepTest {
 
   @Test
   public void shouldPersistDataWhenPresent() {
-    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> tasks = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(true);
+    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> tasks = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(true, false);
     final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> result = persistDataStep.persist(tasks);
 
     assertThat(result).isSameAs(tasks);
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public class PersistDataStepTest {
 
   @Test
   public void shouldSkipPersistDataWhenNoData() {
-    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> tasks = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(false);
+    final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> tasks = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(false, false);
     final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> result = persistDataStep.persist(tasks);
 
     assertThat(result).isSameAs(tasks);
@@ -116,6 +116,25 @@ public class PersistDataStepTest {
         .isEmpty();
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void shouldHandleNullTaskElementInTrie() {
+    // Create a StorageRangeDataRequest where taskElement might be null or incomplete
+    List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> tasks = TaskGenerator.createAccountRequest(false, true);
+
+    try {
+      List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> result = persistDataStep.persist(tasks);
+
+      // check for proper handling of null taskElement
+      assertThat(result).isSameAs(tasks);
+      assertThat(result)
+          .isNotNull(); // Make sure the result isn't null even with the bad taskElement
+    } catch (NullPointerException e) {
+      fail(
+          "NullPointerException occurred during persist step, taskElement might be null: "
+              + e.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
   private void assertDataPersisted(final List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> tasks) {
     tasks.forEach(
         task -> {
diff --git a/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/TaskGenerator.java b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/TaskGenerator.java
index 0e3915bc77..0b3a17cccf 100644
--- a/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/TaskGenerator.java
+++ b/ethereum/eth/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/eth/sync/snapsync/TaskGenerator.java
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ import org.apache.tuweni.bytes.Bytes32;
 
 public class TaskGenerator {
 
-  public static List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> createAccountRequest(final boolean withData) {
+  public static List<Task<SnapDataRequest>> createAccountRequest(
+      final boolean withData, final boolean withNullTaskElement) {
 
     final BonsaiWorldStateKeyValueStorage worldStateKeyValueStorage =
         new BonsaiWorldStateKeyValueStorage(
@@ -91,7 +92,8 @@ public class TaskGenerator {
             rootHash,
             accountHash,
             stateTrieAccountValue.getStorageRoot(),
-            withData);
+            withData,
+            withNullTaskElement);
     final BytecodeRequest bytecodeRequest =
         createBytecodeDataRequest(
             worldStateKeyValueStorage,
@@ -112,7 +114,8 @@ public class TaskGenerator {
       final Hash rootHash,
       final Hash accountHash,
       final Bytes32 storageRoot,
-      final boolean withData) {
+      final boolean withData,
+      final boolean withNullTaskElement) {
 
     final RangeStorageEntriesCollector collector =
         RangeStorageEntriesCollector.createCollector(
@@ -140,6 +143,11 @@ public class TaskGenerator {
       request.setProofValid(true);
       request.addResponse(null, worldStateProofProvider, slots, new ArrayDeque<>());
     }
+
+    if (withNullTaskElement) {
+      // setting isValidProof to true to simulate a null task element.
+      request.setProofValid(true);
+    }
     return request;
   }