diff --git a/mooncake-store/include/transfer_task.h b/mooncake-store/include/transfer_task.h
index c88c8863..753fef76 100644
--- a/mooncake-store/include/transfer_task.h
+++ b/mooncake-store/include/transfer_task.h
@@ -157,10 +157,7 @@ class TransferEngineOperationState : public OperationState {
    public:
     TransferEngineOperationState(TransferEngine& engine, BatchID batch_id,
                                  size_t batch_size)
-        : engine_(engine), batch_id_(batch_id), batch_size_(batch_size) {
-        CHECK(batch_id_ != Transport::INVALID_BATCH_ID)
-            << "Invalid batch ID for transfer engine operation";
-    }
+        : engine_(engine), batch_id_(batch_id), batch_size_(batch_size) {}
 
     ~TransferEngineOperationState() { engine_.freeBatchID(batch_id_); }
 
diff --git a/mooncake-store/src/client.cpp b/mooncake-store/src/client.cpp
index 33a8d799..6e73df11 100644
--- a/mooncake-store/src/client.cpp
+++ b/mooncake-store/src/client.cpp
@@ -203,7 +203,10 @@ ErrorCode Client::InitTransferEngine(const std::string& local_hostname,
     auto [hostname, port] = parseHostNameWithPort(local_hostname);
     int rc = transfer_engine_.init(metadata_connstring, local_hostname,
                                    hostname, port);
-    CHECK_EQ(rc, 0) << "Failed to initialize transfer engine";
+    if (rc != 0) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Failed to initialize transfer engine, rc=" << rc;
+        return ErrorCode::INTERNAL_ERROR;
+    }
 
     Transport* transport = nullptr;
     if (protocol == "rdma") {
diff --git a/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp b/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp
index 4ce4dbbe..f35b84c5 100644
--- a/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp
+++ b/mooncake-store/src/transfer_task.cpp
@@ -509,6 +509,11 @@ std::optional<TransferFuture> TransferSubmitter::submitTransferEngineOperation(
         return std::nullopt;
     }
 
+    if (batch_id == Transport::INVALID_BATCH_ID) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Invalid batch ID for transfer engine operation";
+        return std::nullopt;
+    }
+
     // Create state with transfer engine context - no polling thread
     // needed
     auto state = std::make_shared<TransferEngineOperationState>(