diff --git a/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.cpp b/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.cpp
index e31f94eae..50072f547 100644
--- a/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  *  @date Feb 14, 2011
  *  @author Duy-Nguyen Ta
  *  @author Frank Dellaert
+ *  @author Varun Agrawal
  */
 
 #include <gtsam/discrete/DiscreteBayesTree.h>
@@ -35,13 +36,12 @@ namespace gtsam {
   template class FactorGraph<DiscreteFactor>;
   template class EliminateableFactorGraph<DiscreteFactorGraph>;
 
-  /* ************************************************************************* */
-  bool DiscreteFactorGraph::equals(const This& fg, double tol) const
-  {
+  /* ************************************************************************ */
+  bool DiscreteFactorGraph::equals(const This& fg, double tol) const {
     return Base::equals(fg, tol);
   }
 
-  /* ************************************************************************* */
+  /* ************************************************************************ */
   KeySet DiscreteFactorGraph::keys() const {
     KeySet keys;
     for (const sharedFactor& factor : *this) {
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
     return keys;
   }
 
-  /* ************************************************************************* */
+  /* ************************************************************************ */
   DiscreteKeys DiscreteFactorGraph::discreteKeys() const {
     DiscreteKeys result;
     for (auto&& factor : *this) {
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
     return result;
   }
 
-  /* ************************************************************************* */
+  /* ************************************************************************ */
   DecisionTreeFactor DiscreteFactorGraph::product() const {
     DecisionTreeFactor result;
     for (const sharedFactor& factor : *this) {
@@ -72,18 +72,18 @@ namespace gtsam {
     return result;
   }
 
-  /* ************************************************************************* */
-  double DiscreteFactorGraph::operator()(
-      const DiscreteValues &values) const {
+  /* ************************************************************************ */
+  double DiscreteFactorGraph::operator()(const DiscreteValues& values) const {
     double product = 1.0;
-    for( const sharedFactor& factor: factors_ )
-      product *= (*factor)(values);
+    for (const sharedFactor& factor : factors_) {
+      if (factor) product *= (*factor)(values);
+    }
     return product;
   }
 
-  /* ************************************************************************* */
+  /* ************************************************************************ */
   void DiscreteFactorGraph::print(const string& s,
-      const KeyFormatter& formatter) const {
+                                  const KeyFormatter& formatter) const {
     std::cout << s << std::endl;
     std::cout << "size: " << size() << std::endl;
     for (size_t i = 0; i < factors_.size(); i++) {
@@ -112,43 +112,36 @@ namespace gtsam {
 //  }
 
   /**
-   * @brief Helper method to normalize the product factor by
-   * the max value to prevent underflow
+   * @brief Multiply all the `factors` and normalize the
+   * product to prevent underflow.
    *
-   * @param product The product discrete factor.
-   * @return DiscreteFactor::shared_ptr
+   * @param factors The factors to multiply as a DiscreteFactorGraph.
+   * @return DecisionTreeFactor
    */
-  static DecisionTreeFactor Normalize(const DecisionTreeFactor& product) {
-    // Max over all the potentials by pretending all keys are frontal:
-    gttic_(DiscreteFindMax);
-    auto normalization = product.max(product.size());
-    gttoc_(DiscreteFindMax);
+  static DecisionTreeFactor ProductAndNormalize(
+      const DiscreteFactorGraph& factors) {
+    // PRODUCT: multiply all factors
+    gttic(product);
+    DecisionTreeFactor product = factors.product();
+    gttoc(product);
+
+    // Max over all the potentials by pretending all keys are frontal:
+    auto normalization = product.max(product.size());
 
-    gttic_(DiscreteNormalization);
     // Normalize the product factor to prevent underflow.
     auto normalized_product =
         product /
         (*std::dynamic_pointer_cast<DecisionTreeFactor>(normalization));
-    gttoc_(DiscreteNormalization);
 
     return normalized_product;
   }
 
   /* ************************************************************************ */
   // Alternate eliminate function for MPE
-  std::pair<DiscreteConditional::shared_ptr, DiscreteFactor::shared_ptr>
+  std::pair<DiscreteConditional::shared_ptr, DiscreteFactor::shared_ptr>  //
   EliminateForMPE(const DiscreteFactorGraph& factors,
                   const Ordering& frontalKeys) {
-    // PRODUCT: multiply all factors
-    gttic_(MPEProduct);
-    DecisionTreeFactor product = factors.product();
-    gttoc_(MPEProduct);
-
-    gttic_(Normalize);
-
-    // Normalize the product
-    product = Normalize(product);
-    gttoc_(Normalize);
+    DecisionTreeFactor product = ProductAndNormalize(factors);
 
     // max out frontals, this is the factor on the separator
     gttic(max);
@@ -225,18 +218,10 @@ namespace gtsam {
   }
 
   /* ************************************************************************ */
-  std::pair<DiscreteConditional::shared_ptr, DiscreteFactor::shared_ptr>
+  std::pair<DiscreteConditional::shared_ptr, DiscreteFactor::shared_ptr>  //
   EliminateDiscrete(const DiscreteFactorGraph& factors,
                     const Ordering& frontalKeys) {
-    // PRODUCT: multiply all factors
-    gttic_(product);
-    DecisionTreeFactor product = factors.product();
-    gttoc_(product);
-
-    gttic_(Normalize);
-    // Normalize the product
-    product = Normalize(product);
-    gttoc_(Normalize);
+    DecisionTreeFactor product = ProductAndNormalize(factors);
 
     // sum out frontals, this is the factor on the separator
     gttic_(sum);
diff --git a/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.h b/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.h
index 43c48c2d0..b311cb78b 100644
--- a/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.h
+++ b/gtsam/discrete/DiscreteFactorGraph.h
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * @date Feb 14, 2011
  * @author Duy-Nguyen Ta
  * @author Frank Dellaert
+ * @author Varun Agrawal
  */
 
 #pragma once
diff --git a/gtsam/discrete/tests/testDiscreteFactorGraph.cpp b/gtsam/discrete/tests/testDiscreteFactorGraph.cpp
index e0d696d91..71c88bb7d 100644
--- a/gtsam/discrete/tests/testDiscreteFactorGraph.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/discrete/tests/testDiscreteFactorGraph.cpp
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ TEST(DiscreteFactorGraph, test) {
   const Ordering frontalKeys{0};
   const auto [conditional, newFactorPtr] = EliminateDiscrete(graph, frontalKeys);
 
-  auto newFactor = *std::dynamic_pointer_cast<DecisionTreeFactor>(newFactorPtr);
+  DecisionTreeFactor newFactor =
+      *std::dynamic_pointer_cast<DecisionTreeFactor>(newFactorPtr);
 
   // Normalize newFactor by max for comparison with expected
   auto normalization = newFactor.max(newFactor.size());