diff --git a/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB.c b/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB.c
index 2d876cce25..8cf5fb1378 100644
--- a/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB.c
+++ b/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB.c
@@ -166,7 +166,8 @@ static bool rrc_delay_transaction(instance_t instance, MessageDef *msg_p)
   AssertFatal(cu_ue_id > 0, "cu_ue_id not found in message %s\n", ITTI_MSG_NAME(msg_p));
 
   rrc_gNB_ue_context_t *ue_context_p = rrc_gNB_get_ue_context(RC.nrrrc[instance], cu_ue_id);
-  DevAssert(ue_context_p);
+  if (!ue_context_p)
+    return false; // nothing to delay
 
   gNB_RRC_UE_t *UE = &ue_context_p->ue_context;
   bool delay = UE->delayed_action.ongoing_transaction && UE->delayed_action.max_delays > 0;
@@ -3041,7 +3042,10 @@ void rrc_gNB_process_e1_bearer_context_setup_resp(e1ap_bearer_setup_resp_t *resp
 {
   gNB_RRC_INST *rrc = RC.nrrrc[0];
   rrc_gNB_ue_context_t *ue_context_p = rrc_gNB_get_ue_context(rrc, resp->gNB_cu_cp_ue_id);
-  AssertFatal(ue_context_p != NULL, "did not find UE with CU UE ID %d\n", resp->gNB_cu_cp_ue_id);
+  if (ue_context_p == NULL) {
+    LOG_E(NR_RRC, "no UE with CU-CP UE ID %d found\n", resp->gNB_cu_cp_ue_id);
+    return;
+  }
   gNB_RRC_UE_t *UE = &ue_context_p->ue_context;
 
   // currently: we don't have "infrastructure" to save the CU-UP UE ID, so we
diff --git a/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB_NGAP.c b/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB_NGAP.c
index f2971f199b..035447be55 100644
--- a/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB_NGAP.c
+++ b/openair2/RRC/NR/rrc_gNB_NGAP.c
@@ -354,7 +354,9 @@ bool trigger_bearer_setup(gNB_RRC_INST *rrc, gNB_RRC_UE_t *UE, int n, pdusession
     return false;
   }
   AssertFatal(UE->as_security_active, "logic bug: security should be active when activating DRBs\n");
-  e1ap_bearer_setup_req_t bearer_req = {0};
+  e1ap_bearer_setup_req_t bearer_req = {
+    .gNB_cu_cp_ue_id = UE->rrc_ue_id,
+  };
 
   // Reject bearers setup if there's no CU-UP associated
   if (!is_cuup_associated(rrc)) {
@@ -412,6 +414,10 @@ bool trigger_bearer_setup(gNB_RRC_INST *rrc, gNB_RRC_UE_t *UE, int n, pdusession
       pdu->DRBnGRanList[0] = fill_e1_drb_to_setup(rrc_drb, session, rrc->configuration.um_on_default_drb, UE->redcap_cap);
     }
   }
+  if (bearer_req.numPDUSessions == 0) {
+    LOG_W(NR_RRC, "UE %d: No PDU sessions to setup, skipping bearer context setup\n", UE->rrc_ue_id);
+    return false;
+  }
   /* Limitation: we assume one fixed CU-UP per UE. We base the selection on
    * NSSAI, but the UE might have multiple PDU sessions with differing slices,
    * in which we might need to select different CU-UPs. In this case, we would