diff --git a/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller.go b/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller.go
index f5719e03cea..548d742b4f5 100644
--- a/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
+
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -187,6 +188,9 @@ func (c *Controller) syncConfigMap() error {
 			configMap := obj.(*corev1.ConfigMap)
 			if _, err = time.Parse(dateFormat, configMap.Data[ConfigMapDataKey]); err != nil {
 				configMap := configMap.DeepCopy()
+				if configMap.Data == nil {
+					configMap.Data = map[string]string{}
+				}
 				configMap.Data[ConfigMapDataKey] = now.UTC().Format(dateFormat)
 				if _, err = c.configMapClient.ConfigMaps(metav1.NamespaceSystem).Update(context.TODO(), configMap, metav1.UpdateOptions{}); err != nil {
 					if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) || apierrors.IsConflict(err) {
diff --git a/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller_test.go b/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller_test.go
index 1e56f838681..5f982f25459 100644
--- a/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controlplane/controller/legacytokentracking/controller_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
+
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
@@ -111,6 +112,20 @@ func TestSyncConfigMap(t *testing.T) {
 				core.NewUpdateAction(schema.GroupVersionResource{Version: "v1", Resource: "configmaps"}, metav1.NamespaceSystem, &corev1.ConfigMap{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem, Name: ConfigMapName}, Data: map[string]string{ConfigMapDataKey: now.Format(dateFormat)}}),
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name:    "update configmap with no data",
+			enabled: true,
+			clientObjects: []runtime.Object{
+				&corev1.ConfigMap{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem, Name: ConfigMapName}, Data: nil},
+			},
+			existingConfigMap: &corev1.ConfigMap{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem, Name: ConfigMapName},
+				Data:       nil,
+			},
+			expectedActions: []core.Action{
+				core.NewUpdateAction(schema.GroupVersionResource{Version: "v1", Resource: "configmaps"}, metav1.NamespaceSystem, &corev1.ConfigMap{ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Namespace: metav1.NamespaceSystem, Name: ConfigMapName}, Data: map[string]string{ConfigMapDataKey: now.Format(dateFormat)}}),
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name:    "update configmap should ignore NotFound error [cache with unexpected date format, no live object]",
 			enabled: true,