diff --git a/src/agent/src/grpc.rs b/src/agent/src/grpc.rs
index 6c0ff713a6..56a7c115dc 100644
--- a/src/agent/src/grpc.rs
+++ b/src/agent/src/grpc.rs
@@ -79,7 +79,15 @@ impl agentService {
         let sandbox;
         let mut s;
 
-        let oci = oci_spec.as_mut().unwrap();
+        let oci = match oci_spec.as_mut() {
+            Some(spec) => spec,
+            None => {
+                error!(sl!(), "no oci spec in the create container request!");
+                return Err(
+                    ErrorKind::Nix(nix::Error::from_errno(nix::errno::Errno::EINVAL)).into(),
+                );
+            }
+        };
 
         info!(sl!(), "receive createcontainer {}", &cid);