diff --git a/pkg/isb/forward/forward.go b/pkg/isb/forward/forward.go
index cef19d156..dac9f6b47 100644
--- a/pkg/isb/forward/forward.go
+++ b/pkg/isb/forward/forward.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/numaproj/numaflow/pkg/watermark/fetch"
+	"github.com/numaproj/numaflow/pkg/watermark/processor"
 	"github.com/numaproj/numaflow/pkg/watermark/publish"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
@@ -179,7 +180,10 @@ func (isdf *InterStepDataForward) forwardAChunk(ctx context.Context) {
 	// fetch watermark if available
 	// TODO: make it async (concurrent and wait later)
 	// let's track only the last element's watermark
-	processorWM := isdf.fetchWatermark.GetWatermark(readMessages[len(readMessages)-1].ReadOffset)
+	var processorWM processor.Watermark
+	if isdf.fetchWatermark != nil {
+		processorWM = isdf.fetchWatermark.GetWatermark(readMessages[len(readMessages)-1].ReadOffset)
+	}
 
 	// create space for writeMessages specific to each step as we could forward to all the steps too.
 	var messageToStep = make(map[string][]isb.Message)
@@ -246,9 +250,11 @@ func (isdf *InterStepDataForward) forwardAChunk(ctx context.Context) {
 
 	// forward the highest watermark to all the edges to avoid idle edge problem
 	// TODO: sort and get the highest value
-	for edgeName, offsets := range writeOffsets {
-		if len(offsets) > 0 {
-			isdf.publishWatermark[edgeName].PublishWatermark(processorWM, offsets[len(offsets)-1])
+	if isdf.publishWatermark != nil {
+		for edgeName, offsets := range writeOffsets {
+			if len(offsets) > 0 {
+				isdf.publishWatermark[edgeName].PublishWatermark(processorWM, offsets[len(offsets)-1])
+			}
 		}
 	}