diff --git a/src/zmq/zmqpublishnotifier.cpp b/src/zmq/zmqpublishnotifier.cpp
index ba89d1401d1..233a45d19fa 100644
--- a/src/zmq/zmqpublishnotifier.cpp
+++ b/src/zmq/zmqpublishnotifier.cpp
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ bool CZMQAbstractPublishNotifier::Initialize(void *pcontext)
 
 void CZMQAbstractPublishNotifier::Shutdown()
 {
-    assert(psocket);
+    // Early return if Initialize was not called
+    if (!psocket) return;
 
     int count = mapPublishNotifiers.count(address);
 
diff --git a/test/functional/interface_zmq.py b/test/functional/interface_zmq.py
index 5aea10fbce5..89c55f31f3b 100755
--- a/test/functional/interface_zmq.py
+++ b/test/functional/interface_zmq.py
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ class ZMQTest (BitcoinTestFramework):
         # Note that the publishing order is not defined in the documentation and
         # is subject to change.
         import zmq
+
+        # Invalid zmq arguments don't take down the node, see #17185.
+        self.restart_node(0, ["-zmqpubrawtx=foo", "-zmqpubhashtx=bar"])
+
         address = 'tcp://127.0.0.1:28332'
         socket = self.ctx.socket(zmq.SUB)
         socket.set(zmq.RCVTIMEO, 60000)