diff --git a/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go b/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
index 3bce0e54b..068877d5e 100644
--- a/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
@@ -590,6 +590,10 @@ func GetStorageNodeAffinityFromAnnotation(annotations map[string]string) (*api.N
 // Converts NodeAffinity type to Alpha annotation for use in PersistentVolumes
 // TODO: update when storage node affinity graduates to beta
 func StorageNodeAffinityToAlphaAnnotation(annotations map[string]string, affinity *api.NodeAffinity) error {
+	if affinity == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	json, err := json.Marshal(*affinity)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err