diff --git a/discovery/gossiper.go b/discovery/gossiper.go
index f2ccd199..878a9cd3 100644
--- a/discovery/gossiper.go
+++ b/discovery/gossiper.go
@@ -872,18 +872,48 @@ func (d *AuthenticatedGossiper) resendAnnounceSignatures() error {
 
 // findGossipSyncer is a utility method used by the gossiper to locate the
 // gossip syncer for an inbound message so we can properly dispatch the
-// incoming message.
-func (d *AuthenticatedGossiper) findGossipSyncer(pub *btcec.PublicKey) (*gossipSyncer, error) {
+// incoming message. If a gossip syncer isn't found, then one will be created
+// for the target peer.
+func (d *AuthenticatedGossiper) findGossipSyncer(pub *btcec.PublicKey) *gossipSyncer {
 	target := routing.NewVertex(pub)
+
+	// First, we'll try to find an existing gossiper for this peer.
 	d.syncerMtx.RLock()
 	syncer, ok := d.peerSyncers[target]
 	d.syncerMtx.RUnlock()
-	if !ok {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("received chan time series message for "+
-			"unknown peer: %x", target[:])
+
+	// If one exists, then we'll return it directly.
+	if ok {
+		return syncer
 	}
 
-	return syncer, nil
+	// Otherwise, we'll obtain the mutex, then check again if a gossiper
+	// was added after we dropped the read mutex.
+	d.syncerMtx.Lock()
+	syncer, ok = d.peerSyncers[target]
+	if ok {
+		d.syncerMtx.Unlock()
+		return syncer
+	}
+
+	// At this point, a syncer doesn't yet exist, so we'll create a new one
+	// for the peer and return it to the caller.
+	syncer = newGossiperSyncer(gossipSyncerCfg{
+		chainHash:       d.cfg.ChainHash,
+		syncChanUpdates: true,
+		channelSeries:   d.cfg.ChanSeries,
+		encodingType:    lnwire.EncodingSortedPlain,
+		sendToPeer: func(msgs ...lnwire.Message) error {
+			return d.cfg.SendToPeer(pub, msgs...)
+		},
+	})
+	copy(syncer.peerPub[:], pub.SerializeCompressed())
+	d.peerSyncers[target] = syncer
+	syncer.Start()
+
+	d.syncerMtx.Unlock()
+
+	return syncer
 }
 
 // networkHandler is the primary goroutine that drives this service. The roles
@@ -961,15 +991,11 @@ func (d *AuthenticatedGossiper) networkHandler() {
 			// then we'll dispatch that directly to the proper
 			// gossipSyncer.
 			case *lnwire.GossipTimestampRange:
-				syncer, err := d.findGossipSyncer(announcement.peer)
-				if err != nil {
-					log.Error(err)
-					continue
-				}
+				syncer := d.findGossipSyncer(announcement.peer)
 
 				// If we've found the message target, then
 				// we'll dispatch the message directly to it.
-				err = syncer.ApplyGossipFilter(msg)
+				err := syncer.ApplyGossipFilter(msg)
 				if err != nil {
 					log.Warnf("unable to apply gossip "+
 						"filter for peer=%x: %v",
@@ -985,11 +1011,7 @@ func (d *AuthenticatedGossiper) networkHandler() {
 				*lnwire.ReplyChannelRange,
 				*lnwire.ReplyShortChanIDsEnd:
 
-				syncer, err := d.findGossipSyncer(announcement.peer)
-				if err != nil {
-					log.Error(err)
-					continue
-				}
+				syncer := d.findGossipSyncer(announcement.peer)
 
 				syncer.ProcessQueryMsg(announcement.msg)
 				continue