diff --git a/channeldb/graph.go b/channeldb/graph.go
index 11431192..49b73aad 100644
--- a/channeldb/graph.go
+++ b/channeldb/graph.go
@@ -439,6 +439,10 @@ func (c *ChannelGraph) AddChannelEdge(edge *ChannelEdgeInfo) error {
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(chanKey[:], edge.ChannelID)
 
 	return c.db.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
+		nodes, err := tx.CreateBucketIfNotExists(nodeBucket)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 		edges, err := tx.CreateBucketIfNotExists(edgeBucket)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -459,6 +463,45 @@ func (c *ChannelGraph) AddChannelEdge(edge *ChannelEdgeInfo) error {
 			return ErrEdgeAlreadyExist
 		}
 
+		// Before we insert the channel into the database, we'll ensure
+		// that both nodes already exist in the channel graph. If
+		// either node doesn't, then we'll insert a "shell" node that
+		// just includes its public key, so subsequent validation and
+		// queries can work properly.
+		_, node1Err := fetchLightningNode(nodes, edge.NodeKey1Bytes[:])
+		switch {
+		case node1Err == ErrGraphNodeNotFound:
+			node1Shell := LightningNode{
+				PubKeyBytes:          edge.NodeKey1Bytes,
+				HaveNodeAnnouncement: false,
+			}
+			err := addLightningNode(tx, &node1Shell)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to create shell node "+
+					"for: %x", edge.NodeKey1Bytes)
+
+			}
+		case node1Err != nil:
+			return err
+		}
+
+		_, node2Err := fetchLightningNode(nodes, edge.NodeKey2Bytes[:])
+		switch {
+		case node2Err == ErrGraphNodeNotFound:
+			node2Shell := LightningNode{
+				PubKeyBytes:          edge.NodeKey2Bytes,
+				HaveNodeAnnouncement: false,
+			}
+			err := addLightningNode(tx, &node2Shell)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("unable to create shell node "+
+					"for: %x", edge.NodeKey2Bytes)
+
+			}
+		case node2Err != nil:
+			return err
+		}
+
 		// If the edge hasn't been created yet, then we'll first add it
 		// to the edge index in order to associate the edge between two
 		// nodes and also store the static components of the channel.
@@ -2229,8 +2272,9 @@ func (c *ChannelGraph) FetchChannelEdgesByOutpoint(op *wire.OutPoint) (*ChannelE
 		// Once we have the information about the channels' parameters,
 		// we'll fetch the routing policies for each for the directed
 		// edges.
-		e1, e2, err := fetchChanEdgePolicies(edgeIndex, edges, nodes,
-			chanID, c.db)
+		e1, e2, err := fetchChanEdgePolicies(
+			edgeIndex, edges, nodes, chanID, c.db,
+		)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -2288,8 +2332,9 @@ func (c *ChannelGraph) FetchChannelEdgesByID(chanID uint64) (*ChannelEdgeInfo, *
 		}
 		edgeInfo = &edge
 
-		e1, e2, err := fetchChanEdgePolicies(edgeIndex, edges, nodes,
-			channelID[:], c.db)
+		e1, e2, err := fetchChanEdgePolicies(
+			edgeIndex, edges, nodes, channelID[:], c.db,
+		)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -2889,7 +2934,8 @@ func deserializeChanEdgePolicy(r io.Reader,
 
 	node, err := fetchLightningNode(nodes, pub[:])
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to fetch node: %x, %v",
+			pub[:], err)
 	}
 
 	edge.Node = &node
diff --git a/routing/router.go b/routing/router.go
index de465325..0e5b6e24 100644
--- a/routing/router.go
+++ b/routing/router.go
@@ -956,34 +956,6 @@ func (r *ChannelRouter) processUpdate(msg interface{}) error {
 				"chan_id=%v", msg.ChannelID)
 		}
 
-		// Query the database for the existence of the two nodes in this
-		// channel. If not found, add a partial node to the database,
-		// containing only the node keys.
-		_, exists, _ = r.cfg.Graph.HasLightningNode(msg.NodeKey1Bytes)
-		if !exists {
-			node1 := &channeldb.LightningNode{
-				PubKeyBytes:          msg.NodeKey1Bytes,
-				HaveNodeAnnouncement: false,
-			}
-			err := r.cfg.Graph.AddLightningNode(node1)
-			if err != nil {
-				return errors.Errorf("unable to add node %v to"+
-					" the graph: %v", node1.PubKeyBytes, err)
-			}
-		}
-		_, exists, _ = r.cfg.Graph.HasLightningNode(msg.NodeKey2Bytes)
-		if !exists {
-			node2 := &channeldb.LightningNode{
-				PubKeyBytes:          msg.NodeKey2Bytes,
-				HaveNodeAnnouncement: false,
-			}
-			err := r.cfg.Graph.AddLightningNode(node2)
-			if err != nil {
-				return errors.Errorf("unable to add node %v to"+
-					" the graph: %v", node2.PubKeyBytes, err)
-			}
-		}
-
 		// Before we can add the channel to the channel graph, we need
 		// to obtain the full funding outpoint that's encoded within
 		// the channel ID.