diff --git a/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/index.ts b/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/index.ts
index 055a18778..6f4caa502 100644
--- a/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/index.ts
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ export const inboundEmailHandler = Sentry.GCPFunction.wrapHttpFunction(
 
       // check if it is a forwarding confirmation email or newsletter
       const newsletterHandler = getNewsletterHandler(rawUrl, from)
-      if (newsletterHandler) {
-        try {
+      try {
+        if (newsletterHandler) {
           console.log('handleNewsletter', from, recipientAddress)
           await newsletterHandler.handleNewsletter(
             recipientAddress,
@@ -85,13 +85,22 @@ export const inboundEmailHandler = Sentry.GCPFunction.wrapHttpFunction(
             subject,
             from
           )
-        } catch (error) {
-          console.log(
-            'error handling newsletter, will forward.',
-            from,
-            recipientAddress,
-            subject
-          )
+        } else {
+          console.log('non-newsletter email from:', from, recipientAddress)
+
+          if (isConfirmationEmail(from)) {
+            console.log('handleConfirmation', from)
+            await handleConfirmation(recipientAddress, subject)
+          } else if (pdfAttachment) {
+            console.log('handle PDF attachment', from, recipientAddress)
+            await handlePdfAttachment(
+              recipientAddress,
+              pdfAttachmentName,
+              pdfAttachment,
+              subject
+            )
+          }
+
           // queue non-newsletter emails
           await pubsub.topic(NON_NEWSLETTER_EMAIL_TOPIC).publishMessage({
             json: {
@@ -103,23 +112,14 @@ export const inboundEmailHandler = Sentry.GCPFunction.wrapHttpFunction(
             },
           })
         }
-      } else {
-        console.log('non-newsletter email from:', from, recipientAddress)
-
-        if (isConfirmationEmail(from)) {
-          console.log('handleConfirmation', from, recipientAddress)
-          await handleConfirmation(recipientAddress, subject)
-        } else if (pdfAttachment) {
-          console.log('handle PDF attachment', from, recipientAddress)
-          await handlePdfAttachment(
-            recipientAddress,
-            pdfAttachmentName,
-            pdfAttachment,
-            subject
-          )
-        }
-
-        // queue non-newsletter emails
+      } catch (error) {
+        console.log(
+          'error handling emails, will forward.',
+          from,
+          recipientAddress,
+          subject
+        )
+        // queue error emails
         await pubsub.topic(NON_NEWSLETTER_EMAIL_TOPIC).publishMessage({
           json: {
             from: from,
diff --git a/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/newsletter.ts b/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/newsletter.ts
index 98b8d84e9..858bdcf97 100644
--- a/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/newsletter.ts
+++ b/packages/inbound-email-handler/src/newsletter.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ const EMAIL_CONFIRMATION_CODE_RECEIVED_TOPIC = 'emailConfirmationCodeReceived'
 const EMAIL_FORWARDING_SENDER_ADDRESSES = [
   'Gmail Team <forwarding-noreply@google.com>',
 ]
-const CONFIRMATION_CODE_PATTERN = /^\\(#\\d+\\)/
+const CONFIRMATION_CODE_PATTERN = /^\(#\d+\)/
 
 export class NewsletterHandler {
   protected senderRegex = /NEWSLETTER_SENDER_REGEX/
@@ -70,16 +70,9 @@ export class NewsletterHandler {
 }
 
 export const handleConfirmation = async (email: string, subject: string) => {
-  console.log('confirmation email')
-
-  let confirmationCode = ''
-  const matches = subject.match(CONFIRMATION_CODE_PATTERN)
-  if (matches) {
-    // get the number code only
-    // e.g. (#123456) => 123456
-    confirmationCode = matches[0].slice(2, -1)
-  }
+  console.log('confirmation email', email, subject)
 
+  const confirmationCode = getConfirmationCode(subject)
   if (!email || !confirmationCode) {
     console.log(
       'confirmation email error, user email:',
@@ -94,6 +87,20 @@ export const handleConfirmation = async (email: string, subject: string) => {
   return publishMessage(EMAIL_CONFIRMATION_CODE_RECEIVED_TOPIC, message)
 }
 
+export const getConfirmationCode = (subject: string): string | undefined => {
+  const matches = subject.match(CONFIRMATION_CODE_PATTERN)
+  if (matches) {
+    // get the number code only
+    // e.g. (#123456) => 123456
+    return matches[0].slice(2, -1)
+  }
+  return undefined
+}
+
+export const isConfirmationEmail = (from: string): boolean => {
+  return EMAIL_FORWARDING_SENDER_ADDRESSES.includes(from)
+}
+
 const publishMessage = async (
   topic: string,
   message: Record<string, string>
@@ -106,7 +113,3 @@ const publishMessage = async (
       return undefined
     })
 }
-
-export const isConfirmationEmail = (from: string): boolean => {
-  return EMAIL_FORWARDING_SENDER_ADDRESSES.includes(from)
-}
diff --git a/packages/inbound-email-handler/test/newsletter.test.ts b/packages/inbound-email-handler/test/newsletter.test.ts
index bda334237..46f427421 100644
--- a/packages/inbound-email-handler/test/newsletter.test.ts
+++ b/packages/inbound-email-handler/test/newsletter.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import { expect } from 'chai'
-import { isConfirmationEmail, NewsletterHandler } from '../src/newsletter'
+import {
+  getConfirmationCode,
+  isConfirmationEmail,
+  NewsletterHandler,
+} from '../src/newsletter'
 import { SubstackHandler } from '../src/substack-handler'
 import { AxiosHandler } from '../src/axios-handler'
 import { BloombergHandler } from '../src/bloomberg-handler'
@@ -14,6 +18,15 @@ describe('Confirmation email test', () => {
       expect(isConfirmationEmail(from)).to.be.true
     })
   })
+
+  describe('#getConfirmationCode()', () => {
+    it('returns the confirmation code from the email', () => {
+      const code = '593781109'
+      const subject = `(#${code}) Gmail Forwarding Confirmation - Receive Mail from sam@omnivore.com`
+
+      expect(getConfirmationCode(subject)).to.equal(code)
+    })
+  })
 })
 
 describe('Newsletter email test', () => {