diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java
index 29dc789ca5bb0..5ed35cf84bab6 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 import java.util.TreeMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
-import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
@@ -1339,8 +1338,15 @@ public static CompletableFuture<PartitionedTopicMetadata> getPartitionedTopicMet
      * Get the Topic object reference from the Pulsar broker
      */
     private Topic getTopicReference(TopicName topicName) {
-        return pulsar().getBrokerService().getTopicIfExists(topicName.toString()).join()
-                .orElseThrow(() -> topicNotFoundReason(topicName));
+        try {
+            return pulsar().getBrokerService().getTopicIfExists(topicName.toString())
+                    .get(pulsar().getConfiguration().getZooKeeperSessionTimeoutMillis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
+                    .orElseThrow(() -> topicNotFoundReason(topicName));
+        } catch (RestException e) {
+            throw e;
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new RestException(e);
+        }
     }
 
     private RestException topicNotFoundReason(TopicName topicName) {