diff --git a/pkg/manager/manager_options_test.go b/pkg/manager/manager_options_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5b97bb183d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/manager/manager_options_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package manager
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/config"
+
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	configv1alpha1 "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/config/v1alpha1"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("manager.Options", func() {
+	Describe("AndFrom", func() {
+		Describe("reading custom type using OfKind", func() {
+			It("should not panic when leaderelection is not set", func() {
+				s := runtime.NewScheme()
+				o := Options{
+					Scheme:         s,
+					LeaderElection: true,
+				}
+				c := customConfig{}
+				_, err := o.AndFrom(config.File().AtPath("./testdata/custom-config.yaml").OfKind(&c))
+				Expect(err).To(Succeed())
+			})
+		})
+	})
+})
+
+type customConfig struct {
+	metav1.TypeMeta                                   `json:",inline"`
+	configv1alpha1.ControllerManagerConfigurationSpec `json:",inline"`
+}
+
+func (in *customConfig) DeepCopyObject() runtime.Object {
+	out := &customConfig{}
+	*out = *in
+
+	in.ControllerManagerConfigurationSpec.DeepCopyInto(&out.ControllerManagerConfigurationSpec)
+
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/pkg/manager/testdata/custom-config.yaml b/pkg/manager/testdata/custom-config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a15c9f8e5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/manager/testdata/custom-config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+apiVersion: controller-runtime.sigs.k8s.io/v1alpha1
+kind: CustomControllerManagerConfiguration
+customValue: foo