diff --git a/hack/lib/golang.sh b/hack/lib/golang.sh
index 596196b13252b..8ad24b98a342d 100755
--- a/hack/lib/golang.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/golang.sh
@@ -356,7 +356,9 @@ kube::golang::is_statically_linked_library() {
   if [[ -n "${KUBE_CGO_OVERRIDES_LIST:+x}" ]]; then
     for e in "${KUBE_CGO_OVERRIDES_LIST[@]}"; do [[ "${1}" == *"/${e}" ]] && return 1; done;
   fi
-  for e in "${KUBE_STATIC_LIBRARIES[@]}"; do [[ "${1}" == *"/${e}" ]] && return 0; done;
+  if [[ -n "${KUBE_STATIC_LIBRARIES:+x}" ]]; then
+    for e in "${KUBE_STATIC_LIBRARIES[@]}"; do [[ "${1}" == *"/${e}" ]] && return 0; done;
+  fi
   if [[ -n "${KUBE_STATIC_OVERRIDES_LIST:+x}" ]]; then
     for e in "${KUBE_STATIC_OVERRIDES_LIST[@]}"; do [[ "${1}" == *"/${e}" ]] && return 0; done;
   fi