diff --git a/src/aleph/vm/orchestrator/payment.py b/src/aleph/vm/orchestrator/payment.py
index cfa2e529..7de0c51b 100644
--- a/src/aleph/vm/orchestrator/payment.py
+++ b/src/aleph/vm/orchestrator/payment.py
@@ -40,8 +40,12 @@ async def get_address_balance(address: str) -> dict:
 
         # Raise an error if the request failed
         resp.raise_for_status()
+        ret = await resp.json()
+        if not isinstance(ret, dict):
+            msg = f"get_address_blaance: Invalid response received from  {url}, should be dict"
+            raise Exception(msg)
 
-        return await resp.json()
+        return ret
 
 
 async def fetch_balance_of_address(address: str) -> Decimal:
@@ -50,10 +54,13 @@ async def fetch_balance_of_address(address: str) -> Decimal:
     """
 
     resp_data = await get_address_balance(address)
-    if hasattr(resp_data, "balance"):
-        return Decimal(resp_data["balance"])
-
-    return Decimal(0)
+    balance = resp_data.get("balance", 0)
+    if not isinstance(balance, Decimal | int | float | str | tuple):
+        logger.warning(
+            "Invalid balance format for address %s: %r. API Server : %s", address, balance, settings.API_SERVER
+        )
+        return Decimal(0)
+    return Decimal(balance)
 
 
 async def fetch_credit_balance_of_address(address: str) -> Decimal:
@@ -62,10 +69,13 @@ async def fetch_credit_balance_of_address(address: str) -> Decimal:
     """
 
     resp_data = await get_address_balance(address)
-    if hasattr(resp_data, "credit_balance"):
-        return Decimal(resp_data["credit_balance"])
-
-    return Decimal(0)
+    balance = resp_data.get("credit_balance", 0)
+    if not isinstance(balance, Decimal | int | float | str | tuple):
+        logger.warning(
+            "Invalid balance format for address %s: %r. API Server : %s", address, balance, settings.API_SERVER
+        )
+        return Decimal(0)
+    return Decimal(balance)
 
 
 async def fetch_execution_price(
diff --git a/tests/supervisor/test_payment.py b/tests/supervisor/test_payment.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c5cd3369
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/supervisor/test_payment.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+from decimal import Decimal
+
+import pytest
+
+from aleph.vm.conf import settings
+from aleph.vm.orchestrator.payment import (
+    fetch_balance_of_address,
+    fetch_credit_balance_of_address,
+)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def mock_get_address_balance(mocker):
+    # http://51.159.106.166:4024/api/v0/addresses/0x5f78199cd833c1dc1735bee4a7416caaE58Facca/balance
+    fake = {
+        "address": "0x555559cd833c1dc1735bee4a7416caaE58Facca",
+        "balance": 57000.0,
+        "details": {"AVAX": 3000.0, "BASE": 52000.0, "ETH": 2000.0},
+        "locked_amount": 4010.008710650127,
+        "credit_balance": 10000,
+    }
+    mocker.patch("aleph.vm.orchestrator.payment.get_address_balance", return_value=fake)
+
+    return fake
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fetch_balance_of_address(mocker, mock_get_address_balance):
+    """ """
+    mocker.patch.object(settings, "API_SERVER", "https://fake.aleph.cloud")
+    balance = await fetch_balance_of_address("0x555559cd833c1dc1735bee4a7416caaE58Facca")
+    assert balance == Decimal("57000")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fetch_credit_balance_of_address(mocker, mock_get_address_balance):
+    """ """
+    mocker.patch.object(settings, "API_SERVER", "https://fake.aleph.cloud")
+    balance = await fetch_credit_balance_of_address("0x555559cd833c1dc1735bee4a7416caaE58Facca")
+    assert balance == Decimal("10000.0")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fetch_credit_balance_of_address_empty_response(
+    mocker,
+):
+    """ """
+    mocker.patch.object(settings, "API_SERVER", "https://fake.aleph.cloud")
+    mocker.patch("aleph.vm.orchestrator.payment.get_address_balance", return_value={})
+
+    balance = await fetch_credit_balance_of_address("0x555559cd833c1dc1735bee4a7416caaE58Facca")
+    assert balance == Decimal("0")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_fetch_balance_of_address_empty_response(
+    mocker,
+):
+    """ """
+    mocker.patch.object(settings, "API_SERVER", "https://fake.aleph.cloud")
+    mocker.patch("aleph.vm.orchestrator.payment.get_address_balance", return_value={})
+
+    balance = await fetch_balance_of_address("0x555559cd833c1dc1735bee4a7416caaE58Facca")
+    assert balance == Decimal("0")