diff --git a/nemo_curator/modules/fuzzy_dedup.py b/nemo_curator/modules/fuzzy_dedup.py
index 44e0977e..03621bf3 100644
--- a/nemo_curator/modules/fuzzy_dedup.py
+++ b/nemo_curator/modules/fuzzy_dedup.py
@@ -1142,7 +1142,7 @@ def _batched_merge_and_write(
                 subset_text_df = left_df_use.partitions[
                     text_part_offset:end_text_offset
                 ]
-                merged_subset_df = merge_left_to_shuffled_right(
+                subset_merged_df = merge_left_to_shuffled_right(
                     subset_text_df,
                     subset_bucket_df,
                     merge_on,
@@ -1150,20 +1150,20 @@ def _batched_merge_and_write(
                 if os.environ["SHUFFLE_APPROACH"] == "text_bytes_aware":
                     self._logger.info("Using text_bytes_aware_shuffle")
                     output_df = text_bytes_aware_shuffle(
-                        df=merged_subset_df,
+                        df=subset_merged_df,
                         partition_on=partition_on,
                         text_column=self.text_field,
                         num_workers=num_workers,
                     )
                 elif os.environ["SHUFFLE_APPROACH"] == "dask_vanilla":
                     self._logger.info("Using dask's vanilla shuffle")
-                    output_df = merged_subset_df.shuffle(on=partition_on)
+                    output_df = subset_merged_df.shuffle(on=partition_on)
                 elif os.environ["SHUFFLE_APPROACH"] == "rearrange_by_column_direct":
                     self._logger.info("Using rearrange_by_column_direct")
                     output_df = rearange_by_column_direct(
-                        df=merged_subset_df,
+                        df=subset_merged_df,
                         col=partition_on,
-                        npartitions=merged_subset_df.npartitions,
+                        npartitions=subset_merged_df.npartitions,
                         ignore_index=True,
                         excomms_default=True,
                     )
@@ -1175,14 +1175,14 @@ def _batched_merge_and_write(
                     # Use the internal dask-expr API
                     output_df = new_collection(
                         RearrangeByColumn(
-                            frame=merged_subset_df.expr,
+                            frame=subset_merged_df.expr,
                             partitioning_index=partition_on,
-                            npartitions_out=merged_subset_df.npartitions,
+                            npartitions_out=subset_merged_df.npartitions,
                             ignore_index=True,
                             method="tasks",
                             # Prevent staged shuffling by setting max_branch
                             # to the number of input partitions + 1
-                            options={"max_branch": merged_subset_df.npartitions + 1},
+                            options={"max_branch": subset_merged_df.npartitions + 1},
                         )
                     )
                 elif os.environ["SHUFFLE_APPROACH"] == "rearrange_third_branch":
@@ -1190,19 +1190,19 @@ def _batched_merge_and_write(
                     from dask.dataframe.shuffle import rearrange_by_column
 
                     output_df = rearrange_by_column(
-                        merged_subset_df,
+                        subset_merged_df,
                         col=partition_on,
                         shuffle_method="tasks",
                         # Prevent staged shuffling by setting max_branch
                         # to the number of input partitions + 1
-                        max_branch=merged_subset_df.npartitions + 1,
-                        npartitions=merged_subset_df.npartitions,
+                        max_branch=subset_merged_df.npartitions + 1,
+                        npartitions=subset_merged_df.npartitions,
                         ignore_index=True,
                     )
                 else:
                     raise ValueError("Invalid shuffle approach")
 
-                if self.int_to_str_id is not None:
+                if self.int_to_str_id is not None and output_df is not None:
                     output_df = output_df.map_partitions(
                         int_ids_to_str, id_column=self.int_to_str_id
                     )