diff --git a/homeassistant/components/device_tracker/owntracks.py b/homeassistant/components/device_tracker/owntracks.py
index 60335e2059afbc..ace6a251747332 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/device_tracker/owntracks.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/device_tracker/owntracks.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ def async_handle_mqtt_message(topic, payload, qos):
         except ValueError:
             # If invalid JSON
             _LOGGER.error("Unable to parse payload as JSON: %s", payload)
+            return
 
         message['topic'] = topic
 
@@ -91,7 +92,11 @@ def _parse_topic(topic):
 
     Async friendly.
     """
-    _, user, device, *_ = topic.split('/', 3)
+    try:
+        _, user, device, *_ = topic.split('/', 3)
+    except ValueError:
+        _LOGGER.error("Can't parse topic: '%s'", topic)
+        raise
 
     return user, device