diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go b/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go
index f516d0a74..c595b9f11 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/store/store.go
@@ -891,6 +891,10 @@ func (s *k8sStore) setConfig(cmap *corev1.ConfigMap) {
 	s.backendConfigMu.Lock()
 	defer s.backendConfigMu.Unlock()
 
+	if cmap == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
 	s.backendConfig = ngx_template.ReadConfig(cmap.Data)
 	s.writeSSLSessionTicketKey(cmap, "/etc/nginx/tickets.key")
 }