diff --git a/frigate/comms/event_metadata_updater.py b/frigate/comms/event_metadata_updater.py
index a24aa58c5..81c766dde 100644
--- a/frigate/comms/event_metadata_updater.py
+++ b/frigate/comms/event_metadata_updater.py
@@ -23,10 +23,6 @@ class EventMetadataPublisher(Publisher):
         topic = topic.value
         super().__init__(topic)
 
-    def publish(self, payload: str) -> None:
-        logger.info(f"publishing payload: {payload}")
-        super().publish(payload)
-
 
 class EventMetadataSubscriber(Subscriber):
     """Simplifies receiving event metadata."""
@@ -35,7 +31,7 @@ class EventMetadataSubscriber(Subscriber):
 
     def __init__(self, topic: EventMetadataTypeEnum) -> None:
         topic = topic.value
-        logger.info(f"subscribing to: {topic.value}")
+        logger.info(f"subscribing to: {topic}")
         super().__init__(topic)
 
     def check_for_update(
diff --git a/frigate/embeddings/maintainer.py b/frigate/embeddings/maintainer.py
index 1a37b79ce..2ca07585f 100644
--- a/frigate/embeddings/maintainer.py
+++ b/frigate/embeddings/maintainer.py
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ class EmbeddingMaintainer(threading.Thread):
 
     def run(self) -> None:
         """Maintain a Chroma vector database for semantic search."""
+        logger.info("in maintainer run()")
         while not self.stop_event.is_set():
             self._process_updates()
             self._process_finalized()
@@ -149,12 +150,13 @@ class EmbeddingMaintainer(threading.Thread):
             if event_id in self.tracked_events:
                 del self.tracked_events[event_id]
 
-    def _process_event_metadata(self, event_id):
+    def _process_event_metadata(self):
         # Check for regenerate description requests
+        logger.info("processing event metadata")
         (topic, event_id) = self.event_metadata_subscriber.check_for_update()
         logger.info(f"in init in maintainer, {topic} {event_id}")
 
-        if not topic:
+        if topic is None:
             return
 
         if event_id: