diff --git a/changelog/461.fixed.md b/changelog/461.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..45b0d41a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/461.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixes processing of relationshhip during nodes retrieval using the Sync Client, when prefecthing related_nodes
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/infrahub_sdk/node/node.py b/infrahub_sdk/node/node.py
index d48968b4..bad53aca 100644
--- a/infrahub_sdk/node/node.py
+++ b/infrahub_sdk/node/node.py
@@ -1493,15 +1493,15 @@ def _process_relationships(
         for rel_name in self._relationships:
             rel = getattr(self, rel_name)
             if rel and isinstance(rel, RelatedNodeSync):
-                relation = node_data["node"].get(rel_name)
-                if relation.get("node", None):
+                relation = node_data["node"].get(rel_name, None)
+                if relation and relation.get("node", None):
                     related_node = InfrahubNodeSync.from_graphql(
                         client=self._client, branch=branch, data=relation, timeout=timeout
                     )
                     related_nodes.append(related_node)
             elif rel and isinstance(rel, RelationshipManagerSync):
-                peers = node_data["node"].get(rel_name)
-                if peers:
+                peers = node_data["node"].get(rel_name, None)
+                if peers and peers["edges"]:
                     for peer in peers["edges"]:
                         related_node = InfrahubNodeSync.from_graphql(
                             client=self._client, branch=branch, data=peer, timeout=timeout