diff --git a/pkg/policy/checker.go b/pkg/policy/checker.go
index 6b0c1e00..8935d868 100644
--- a/pkg/policy/checker.go
+++ b/pkg/policy/checker.go
@@ -82,12 +82,15 @@ func TopKeys(helmfileContent []byte, hasSeparator bool) []string {
 	clines := bytes.Split(helmfileContent, []byte("\n"))
 
 	for _, line := range clines {
-		if topConfigKeysRegex.Match(line) {
-			lineStr := strings.Split(string(line), ":")[0]
-			topKeys = append(topKeys, lineStr)
+		lineStr := strings.TrimSpace(string(line))
+		if lineStr == "" {
+			continue // Skip empty lines
 		}
-		if hasSeparator && separatorRegex.Match(line) {
-			topKeys = append(topKeys, strings.TrimSpace(string(line)))
+		if hasSeparator && separatorRegex.MatchString(lineStr) {
+			topKeys = append(topKeys, lineStr)
+		} else if topConfigKeysRegex.MatchString(lineStr) {
+			topKey := strings.SplitN(lineStr, ":", 2)[0]
+			topKeys = append(topKeys, topKey)
 		}
 	}
 	return topKeys
diff --git a/pkg/policy/checker_test.go b/pkg/policy/checker_test.go
index 5e81d9ce..b867b4ad 100644
--- a/pkg/policy/checker_test.go
+++ b/pkg/policy/checker_test.go
@@ -239,3 +239,30 @@ func TestTopKeys(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestTopKeys_MalformedLines(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name            string
+		helmfileContent []byte
+		hasSeparator    bool
+		want            []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:            "malformed lines with special characters",
+			helmfileContent: []byte("bas@es:\nenvironm*ents:\nrele#ases:\n"),
+			want:            nil, // This test expects no valid top keys
+		},
+		{
+			name:            "malformed lines with incomplete key",
+			helmfileContent: []byte("bases\nenvironments:\nreleases:\n"),
+			want:            []string{"environments", "releases"}, // This test expects only valid top keys
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := TopKeys(tt.helmfileContent, tt.hasSeparator)
+			require.Equal(t, tt.want, got, "expected %v, got=%v", tt.want, got)
+		})
+	}
+}