diff --git a/contentcuration/contentcuration/management/commands/mark_incomplete.py b/contentcuration/contentcuration/management/commands/mark_incomplete.py
index f0b2962f86..95b4702834 100644
--- a/contentcuration/contentcuration/management/commands/mark_incomplete.py
+++ b/contentcuration/contentcuration/management/commands/mark_incomplete.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def handle(self, *args, **options):
         # Mark invalid titles
         titlestart = time.time()
         logging.info('Marking blank titles...')
-        count = ContentNode.objects.exclude(complete=False).filter(title='').order_by().update(complete=False)
+        count = ContentNode.objects.exclude(complete=False).filter(title='', parent__isnull=False).order_by().update(complete=False)
         logging.info('Marked {} invalid titles (finished in {})'.format(count, time.time() - titlestart))
 
         # Mark invalid licenses
diff --git a/contentcuration/contentcuration/utils/publish.py b/contentcuration/contentcuration/utils/publish.py
index d5aaadb873..71558f759d 100644
--- a/contentcuration/contentcuration/utils/publish.py
+++ b/contentcuration/contentcuration/utils/publish.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 from django.db.models import Count
 from django.db.models import Q
 from django.db.models import Sum
+from django.db.utils import IntegrityError
 from django.template.loader import render_to_string
 from django.utils import timezone
 from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ def assign_license_to_contentcuration_nodes(channel, license):
     channel.main_tree.get_family().update(license_id=license.pk)
 
 
-def map_content_nodes(
+def map_content_nodes(  # noqa: C901
     root_node,
     default_language,
     channel_id,
@@ -140,6 +141,9 @@ def map_content_nodes(
     # make sure we process nodes higher up in the tree first, or else when we
     # make mappings the parent nodes might not be there
 
+    if not root_node.complete:
+        raise ValueError("Attempted to publish a channel with an incomplete root node")
+
     node_queue = collections.deque()
     node_queue.append(root_node)
 
@@ -566,6 +570,8 @@ def map_prerequisites(root_node):
             target_node.has_prerequisite.add(n['prerequisite__node_id'])
         except kolibrimodels.ContentNode.DoesNotExist as e:
             logging.error('Unable to find prerequisite {}'.format(str(e)))
+        except IntegrityError as e:
+            logging.error('Unable to find source node for prerequisite relationship {}'.format(str(e)))
 
 
 def map_channel_to_kolibri_channel(channel):