diff --git a/monkey/monkey_island/cc/repository/mongo_node_repository.py b/monkey/monkey_island/cc/repository/mongo_node_repository.py
index 447bfe8bb..8543d5e21 100644
--- a/monkey/monkey_island/cc/repository/mongo_node_repository.py
+++ b/monkey/monkey_island/cc/repository/mongo_node_repository.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from copy import deepcopy
-from typing import Sequence
+from typing import Optional, Sequence
 
 from pymongo import MongoClient
 
@@ -20,21 +20,18 @@ class MongoNodeRepository(INodeRepository):
         self, src: MachineID, dst: MachineID, communication_type: CommunicationType
     ):
         try:
-            node_dict = self._nodes_collection.find_one(
-                {SRC_FIELD_NAME: src}, {MONGO_OBJECT_ID_KEY: False}
-            )
+            node = self._get_node_by_id(src)
         except Exception as err:
             raise StorageError(f"{UPSERT_ERROR_MESSAGE}: {err}")
 
-        if node_dict is None:
+        if node is None:
             updated_node = Node(machine_id=src, connections={dst: frozenset((communication_type,))})
         else:
-            node = Node(**node_dict)
             updated_node = MongoNodeRepository._add_connection_to_node(
                 node, dst, communication_type
             )
 
-        self.upsert_node(updated_node)
+        self._upsert_node(updated_node)
 
     @staticmethod
     def _add_connection_to_node(
@@ -70,6 +67,12 @@ class MongoNodeRepository(INodeRepository):
                 f"node, but no nodes were inserted"
             )
 
+    def _get_node_by_id(self, node_id: MachineID) -> Optional[Node]:
+        node_dict = self._nodes_collection.find_one(
+            {SRC_FIELD_NAME: node_id}, {MONGO_OBJECT_ID_KEY: False}
+        )
+        return Node(**node_dict) if node_dict else None
+
     def get_nodes(self) -> Sequence[Node]:
         try:
             cursor = self._nodes_collection.find({}, {MONGO_OBJECT_ID_KEY: False})