diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authentication.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authentication.go
index e266fb73ef6..75e9c8dffd1 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authentication.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authentication.go
@@ -226,6 +226,10 @@ func (s *DelegatingAuthenticationOptions) WithClientTimeout(timeout time.Duratio
 }
 
 func (s *DelegatingAuthenticationOptions) Validate() []error {
+	if s == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	allErrors := []error{}
 	allErrors = append(allErrors, s.RequestHeader.Validate()...)
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authorization.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authorization.go
index 04523e8f29a..6b4129639fa 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authorization.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/authorization.go
@@ -104,8 +104,11 @@ func (s *DelegatingAuthorizationOptions) WithCustomRetryBackoff(backoff wait.Bac
 }
 
 func (s *DelegatingAuthorizationOptions) Validate() []error {
-	allErrors := []error{}
+	if s == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
 
+	allErrors := []error{}
 	if s.WebhookRetryBackoff != nil && s.WebhookRetryBackoff.Steps <= 0 {
 		allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("number of webhook retry attempts must be greater than 1, but is: %d", s.WebhookRetryBackoff.Steps))
 	}