diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d902443d8e..9f1abd1996 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 
 - Add `topics` to the template + update linting ([#3779](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3779))
 - Preserve the value of self.modules_repo across nested calls ([#3881](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3881))
+- modules lint: handle meta.ymls without topics field ([#3909](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3909))
 
 ### Subworkflows
 
diff --git a/nf_core/modules/lint/__init__.py b/nf_core/modules/lint/__init__.py
index 579bce05e6..0fb151e90a 100644
--- a/nf_core/modules/lint/__init__.py
+++ b/nf_core/modules/lint/__init__.py
@@ -303,6 +303,7 @@ def update_meta_yml_file(self, mod):
         if "output" in meta_yml:
             correct_outputs = self.obtain_outputs(mod.outputs)
             meta_outputs = self.obtain_outputs(meta_yml["output"])
+        if "topics" in meta_yml:
             correct_topics = self.obtain_topics(mod.topics)
             meta_topics = self.obtain_topics(meta_yml["topics"])
 
@@ -370,7 +371,8 @@ def _find_meta_info(meta_yml, element_name, is_output=False) -> dict:
                         corrected_meta_yml["output"][ch_name][i][element_name] = _find_meta_info(
                             meta_yml["output"], element_name, is_output=True
                         )
-        elif "topics" in meta_yml and correct_topics != meta_topics:
+
+        if "topics" in meta_yml and correct_topics != meta_topics:
             log.debug(
                 f"Correct topics: '{correct_topics}' differ from current topics: '{meta_topics}' in '{mod.meta_yml}'"
             )