diff --git a/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go b/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
index 4dc6c027f62..c0f8e065b4f 100644
--- a/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
@@ -613,6 +613,10 @@ 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
diff --git a/pkg/api/v1/helper/helpers.go b/pkg/api/v1/helper/helpers.go
index 9a8caad82f2..6b51c5c8364 100644
--- a/pkg/api/v1/helper/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/api/v1/helper/helpers.go
@@ -517,6 +517,10 @@ func GetStorageNodeAffinityFromAnnotation(annotations map[string]string) (*v1.No
 // 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 *v1.NodeAffinity) error {
+	if affinity == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	json, err := json.Marshal(*affinity)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
index 72fae6bf15c..e1407a3c204 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/pkg/api/helper/helpers.go
@@ -613,6 +613,10 @@ 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