diff --git a/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/dds_topics.h.em b/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/dds_topics.h.em
index 763cbb2990..e69c8cde90 100644
--- a/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/dds_topics.h.em
+++ b/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/dds_topics.h.em
@@ -184,12 +184,13 @@ struct RcvTopicsPubs {
 	bool init(uxrSession *session, uxrStreamId reliable_out_stream_id, uxrStreamId reliable_in_stream_id, uxrStreamId best_effort_in_stream_id, uxrObjectId participant_id, const char *client_namespace);
 };
 
+@[if subscriptions or subscriptions_multi]@
 static void on_topic_update(uxrSession *session, uxrObjectId object_id, uint16_t request_id, uxrStreamId stream_id,
 		     struct ucdrBuffer *ub, uint16_t length, void *args)
 {
 	RcvTopicsPubs *pubs = (RcvTopicsPubs *)args;
-	const int64_t time_offset_us = session->time_offset / 1000; // ns -> us
 	pubs->num_payload_received += length;
+	const int64_t time_offset_us = session->time_offset / 1000; // ns -> us
 
 	switch (object_id.id) {
 @[    for idx, sub in enumerate(subscriptions)]@
@@ -242,6 +243,7 @@ static void on_topic_update(uxrSession *session, uxrObjectId object_id, uint16_t
 		break;
 	}
 }
+@[end if]@
 
 bool RcvTopicsPubs::init(uxrSession *session, uxrStreamId reliable_out_stream_id, uxrStreamId reliable_in_stream_id, uxrStreamId best_effort_in_stream_id, uxrObjectId participant_id, const char *client_namespace)
 {
@@ -260,7 +262,9 @@ bool RcvTopicsPubs::init(uxrSession *session, uxrStreamId reliable_out_stream_id
 	}
 @[    end for]@
 
+@[    if subscriptions or subscriptions_multi]@
 	uxr_set_topic_callback(session, on_topic_update, this);
+@[    end if]@
 
 	return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/generate_dds_topics.py b/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/generate_dds_topics.py
index 23ecd6213d..73fd057d73 100644
--- a/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/generate_dds_topics.py
+++ b/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/generate_dds_topics.py
@@ -115,20 +115,18 @@ def process_message_instance(msg_type):
 
 merged_em_globals['namespace'] = namespace
 
-pubs_not_empty = msg_map['publications'] is not None
-if pubs_not_empty:
-    for p in msg_map['publications']:
-        process_message_type(p)
-        process_message_instance(p)
+pubs = msg_map.get('publications') or []
+for p in pubs:
+    process_message_type(p)
+    process_message_instance(p)
 
-merged_em_globals['publications'] = msg_map['publications'] if pubs_not_empty else []
+merged_em_globals['publications'] = pubs
 
-subs_not_empty = msg_map['subscriptions'] is not None
-if subs_not_empty:
-    for s in msg_map['subscriptions']:
-        process_message_type(s)
+subs = msg_map.get('subscriptions') or []
+for s in subs:
+    process_message_type(s)
 
-merged_em_globals['subscriptions'] = msg_map['subscriptions'] if subs_not_empty else []
+merged_em_globals['subscriptions'] = subs
 
 subs_multi = msg_map.get('subscriptions_multi') or []
 for sd in subs_multi:
diff --git a/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/utilities.hpp b/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/utilities.hpp
index 346dc28455..ce9033a968 100644
--- a/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/utilities.hpp
+++ b/src/modules/uxrce_dds_client/utilities.hpp
@@ -101,10 +101,10 @@ static bool create_data_writer(uxrSession *session, uxrStreamId reliable_out_str
 	return true;
 }
 
-static bool create_data_reader(uxrSession *session, uxrStreamId reliable_out_stream_id, uxrStreamId input_stream_id,
-			       uxrObjectId participant_id, uint16_t index, const char *client_namespace, const char *topic,
-			       uint32_t message_version,
-			       const char *type_name, uint16_t queue_depth)
+static bool __attribute__((unused)) create_data_reader(uxrSession *session, uxrStreamId reliable_out_stream_id, uxrStreamId input_stream_id,
+		uxrObjectId participant_id, uint16_t index, const char *client_namespace, const char *topic,
+		uint32_t message_version,
+		const char *type_name, uint16_t queue_depth)
 {
 	// topic
 	char topic_name[TOPIC_NAME_SIZE];