diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 17aafe15f3..2b7ac6b909 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 -   Fix aliases for several resource kinds. (https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi-kubernetes/pull/990).
 -   Fix .NET resources with empty arguments. (https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi-kubernetes/pull/983).
+-   Fix panic condition in Pod await logic. (https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi-kubernetes/pull/998).
 
 ## 1.5.3 (February 11, 2020)
 
diff --git a/pkg/await/pod.go b/pkg/await/pod.go
index 4f8040bb1a..c531f0c679 100644
--- a/pkg/await/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/await/pod.go
@@ -197,6 +197,10 @@ func (pia *podInitAwaiter) Read() error {
 }
 
 func (pia *podInitAwaiter) processPodEvent(event watch.Event) {
+	if event.Object == nil {
+		glog.V(3).Infof("received event with nil Object: %#v", event)
+		return
+	}
 	pod, err := clients.PodFromUnstructured(event.Object.(*unstructured.Unstructured))
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.V(3).Infof("Failed to unmarshal Pod event: %v", err)