diff --git a/src/intel/tools/aubinator_error_decode_xe.c b/src/intel/tools/aubinator_error_decode_xe.c
index eb7538c4d4a..687666184f3 100644
--- a/src/intel/tools/aubinator_error_decode_xe.c
+++ b/src/intel/tools/aubinator_error_decode_xe.c
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ read_xe_data_file(FILE *file,
    struct xe_vm xe_vm;
    char *line = NULL;
    size_t line_size;
-   enum xe_topic xe_topic = XE_TOPIC_INVALID;
+   enum xe_topic xe_topic = XE_TOPIC_UNKNOWN;
 
    error_decode_xe_vm_init(&xe_vm);
 
diff --git a/src/intel/tools/error2hangdump_xe.c b/src/intel/tools/error2hangdump_xe.c
index 2d27290fcff..e3e3886e832 100644
--- a/src/intel/tools/error2hangdump_xe.c
+++ b/src/intel/tools/error2hangdump_xe.c
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 void
 read_xe_data_file(FILE *dump_file, FILE *hang_dump_file, bool verbose)
 {
-   enum  xe_topic xe_topic = XE_TOPIC_INVALID;
+   enum  xe_topic xe_topic = XE_TOPIC_UNKNOWN;
    uint32_t *vm_entry_data = NULL;
    uint32_t vm_entry_len = 0;
    struct xe_vm xe_vm;
diff --git a/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.c b/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.c
index d89af6675ee..b7dd782e306 100644
--- a/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.c
+++ b/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.c
@@ -81,11 +81,13 @@ error_decode_xe_decode_topic(const char *line, enum xe_topic *new_topic)
       "**** VM state ****",
       "**** Contexts ****",
    };
-   bool topic_changed = false;
+   const bool topic_changed = strncmp("**** ", line, strlen("**** ")) == 0;
+
+   if (topic_changed)
+      *new_topic = XE_TOPIC_UNKNOWN;
 
    for (int i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(xe_topic_strings); i++) {
       if (strncmp(xe_topic_strings[i], line, strlen(xe_topic_strings[i])) == 0) {
-         topic_changed = true;
          *new_topic = i;
          break;
       }
diff --git a/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.h b/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.h
index 6a44f3bf141..40a84d8a57e 100644
--- a/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.h
+++ b/src/intel/tools/error_decode_xe_lib.h
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ enum xe_topic {
    XE_TOPIC_HW_ENGINES,
    XE_TOPIC_VM,
    XE_TOPIC_CONTEXT,
-   XE_TOPIC_INVALID,
+   XE_TOPIC_UNKNOWN,
 };
 
 enum xe_vm_topic_type {