diff --git a/chatgpt_helper.py b/chatgpt_helper.py
index db965bf..395239f 100644
--- a/chatgpt_helper.py
+++ b/chatgpt_helper.py
@@ -147,14 +147,14 @@ async def get_chatgpt_html_response(topic: str = None, count: int = 0) -> str:
     """
     count += 1
 
+    if count >= 5:
+        return f"Error! ChatGPT is having problems with this topic: {topic}. Try a new one."
+
     if topic is None:
         topic = await get_random_topic()
 
     html = prompt_html_template.replace("(topic)", topic)
 
-    if count >= 5:
-        return f"Error! ChatGPT is having problems with this topic: {topic}. Try a new one."
-
     logging.info(f"The topic to generate is {topic}")
 
     try: