diff --git a/.github/workflows/audit.yml b/.github/workflows/audit.yml
index cfdf2e1..5a97a31 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/audit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/audit.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ on:
 
 # Single source of truth for tool versions
 env:
-  GO_VERSION: '1.24.12'
+  GO_VERSION: '1.24.13'
   BRANCH_NAME: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref_name }} 
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 76f7236..7fffcf2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 # Single source of truth for tool versions
 env:
-  GO_VERSION: '1.24.12'
+  GO_VERSION: '1.24.13'
   GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION: 'v2.5.0'
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/ci/build.yml b/ci/build.yml
index cb4ec3b..7cca4ec 100644
--- a/ci/build.yml
+++ b/ci/build.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ image_resource:
   type: registry-image
   source:
     repository: golang
-    tag: 1.24.12-bookworm
+    tag: 1.24.13-bookworm
     registry_mirror:
       host: ((ecr_repository_uri))
     aws_access_key_id: ((aws_access_key_id))
diff --git a/mapper/dataset.go b/mapper/dataset.go
index 7d96e20..5a8220a 100644
--- a/mapper/dataset.go
+++ b/mapper/dataset.go
@@ -30,12 +30,21 @@ func MapDatasetLandingPageToDatasetAPI(ctx context.Context, datasetID string, pa
 		existingTopicIDs = append(existingTopicIDs, pageData.Description.CanonicalTopic)
 	}
 
-	topicIDs := cache.ExtractTopicIDsFromURI(ctx, pageData.URI, existingTopicIDs, topicCache)
-
 	// Only validate topics if not using mock cache
 	// When mock cache is enabled, we skip topic validation as the cache is non-functional
-	if !topicCache.IsMockCache(ctx) && len(topicIDs) == 0 {
-		return nil, errors.New("no topics found for dataset - datasets must have at least one topic")
+	var topicIDs []string
+	if !topicCache.IsMockCache(ctx) {
+		topicIDs = cache.ExtractTopicIDsFromURI(ctx, pageData.URI, existingTopicIDs, topicCache)
+		if len(topicIDs) == 0 {
+			return nil, errors.New("no topics found for dataset - datasets must have at least one topic")
+		}
+	} else {
+		// When mock cache is disabled, add the mock-topic topic ID
+		topic, err := topicCache.GetTopic(ctx, "mock-topic")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.New("mock topic not found in topic cache - if topic cache is disabled, mock topic should exist")
+		}
+		topicIDs = []string{topic.ID}
 	}
 
 	// If NextRelease has no value, set to "To be announced".
diff --git a/mapper/dataset_test.go b/mapper/dataset_test.go
index 8086e20..6326788 100644
--- a/mapper/dataset_test.go
+++ b/mapper/dataset_test.go
@@ -262,8 +262,9 @@ func TestMapDatasetLandingPageToDatasetAPI(t *testing.T) {
 				So(dataset, ShouldNotBeNil)
 			})
 
-			Convey("And the dataset has an empty topics list", func() {
-				So(len(dataset.Topics), ShouldEqual, 0)
+			Convey("And the dataset has the mock topic ID in its topics list", func() {
+				So(len(dataset.Topics), ShouldEqual, 1)
+				So(dataset.Topics[0], ShouldEqual, "0000")
 			})
 		})
 	})