diff --git a/common/jsonrpc_errors.h b/common/jsonrpc_errors.h
index d52229582..ebf45c4eb 100644
--- a/common/jsonrpc_errors.h
+++ b/common/jsonrpc_errors.h
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ static const errcode_t DATASTORE_UPDATE_WRONG_GENERATION = 1204;
 static const errcode_t DATASTORE_UPDATE_HAS_CHILDREN = 1205;
 static const errcode_t DATASTORE_UPDATE_NO_CHILDREN = 1206;
 
+/* Errors from signmessage command */
+static const errcode_t SIGNMESSAGE_PUBKEY_NOT_FOUND = 1301;
+
 /* Errors from wait* commands */
 static const errcode_t WAIT_TIMEOUT = 2000;
 
diff --git a/doc/lightning-checkmessage.7.md b/doc/lightning-checkmessage.7.md
index 010caba3d..3980f8c51 100644
--- a/doc/lightning-checkmessage.7.md
+++ b/doc/lightning-checkmessage.7.md
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ known node key (as per *listnodes*), and verification succeeds if it
 matches for any one of them.  Note: this is implemented far more
 efficiently than trying each one, so performance is not a concern.
 
+On failure, an error is returned and core lightning exit with the following error code:
+- -32602: Parameter missed or malformed;
+- 1301: *pubkey* not found in the graph.
+
 RETURN VALUE
 ------------
 
diff --git a/lightningd/signmessage.c b/lightningd/signmessage.c
index 1e0195a1d..81b584543 100644
--- a/lightningd/signmessage.c
+++ b/lightningd/signmessage.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #include <common/bech32.h>
+#include <common/configdir.h>
 #include <common/json_command.h>
 #include <common/json_param.h>
 #include <errno.h>
@@ -133,6 +134,12 @@ static void listnodes_done(const char *buffer,
 	if (t)
 		t = json_get_member(buffer, t, "nodes");
 
+	if (!deprecated_apis && (!t || t->size == 0)) {
+		was_pending(command_fail(can->cmd, SIGNMESSAGE_PUBKEY_NOT_FOUND,
+					 "pub key not found in the graph, expected pubkey is %s",
+					 node_id_to_hexstr(tmpctx, &can->id)));
+		return;
+	}
 	response = json_stream_success(can->cmd);
 	json_add_node_id(response, "pubkey", &can->id);
 	json_add_bool(response, "verified", t && t->size == 1);
diff --git a/tests/test_misc.py b/tests/test_misc.py
index b1946f1f8..059eacdce 100644
--- a/tests/test_misc.py
+++ b/tests/test_misc.py
@@ -1850,7 +1850,8 @@ def test_relative_config_dir(node_factory):
 
 
 def test_signmessage(node_factory):
-    l1, l2 = node_factory.line_graph(2, wait_for_announce=True)
+    l1, l2 = node_factory.line_graph(2, wait_for_announce=True,
+                                     opts={'allow-deprecated-apis': True})
 
     corpus = [[None,
                "this is a test!",
@@ -2712,3 +2713,18 @@ def test_torv2_in_db(node_factory):
     l1.stop()
     l1.db_manip("UPDATE peers SET address='3fyb44wdhnd2ghhl.onion:1234';")
     l1.start()
+
+
+def test_checkmessage_pubkey_not_found(node_factory):
+    l1 = node_factory.get_node()
+
+    msg = "testcase to check new rpc error"
+    pubkey = "03be3b0e9992153b1d5a6e1623670b6c3663f72ce6cf2e0dd39c0a373a7de5a3b7"
+    zbase = "d66bqz3qsku5fxtqsi37j11pci47ydxa95iusphutggz9ezaxt56neh77kxe5hyr41kwgkncgiu94p9ecxiexgpgsz8daoq4tw8kj8yx"
+
+    with pytest.raises(RpcError, match="not found in the graph, expected pubkey is {}".format(pubkey)):
+        l1.rpc.checkmessage(msg, zbase)
+
+    check_result = l1.rpc.checkmessage(msg, zbase, pubkey=pubkey)
+    assert check_result["pubkey"] == pubkey
+    assert check_result["verified"] is True
\ No newline at end of file