diff --git a/scripts/lib/normalize.py b/scripts/lib/normalize.py
index 941a9bf..3fd61a9 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/normalize.py
+++ b/scripts/lib/normalize.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ def normalize_youtube_items(
 
     for item in items:
         # Parse engagement
-        eng_raw = item.get("engagement", {})
+        eng_raw = item.get("engagement") or {}
         engagement = schema.Engagement(
             views=eng_raw.get("views"),
             likes=eng_raw.get("likes"),
diff --git a/scripts/watchlist.py b/scripts/watchlist.py
index a058d25..4ec424f 100644
--- a/scripts/watchlist.py
+++ b/scripts/watchlist.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ def _run_topic(topic: dict) -> dict:
                 "title": item.get("text", "")[:100],
                 "author": item.get("author_handle", ""),
                 "content": item.get("text", ""),
-                "engagement_score": item.get("engagement", {}).get("likes", 0),
+                "engagement_score": (item.get("engagement") or {}).get("likes", 0),
                 "relevance_score": item.get("relevance", 0),
             })