diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/cli/flag/string_slice_flag.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/cli/flag/string_slice_flag.go
index 133d4e9ada3..a49cd770338 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/cli/flag/string_slice_flag.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/cli/flag/string_slice_flag.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package flag
 
 import (
 	goflag "flag"
+	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -45,7 +46,10 @@ func (s *StringSlice) String() string {
 }
 
 func (s *StringSlice) Set(val string) error {
-	if s.value == nil || !s.changed {
+	if s.value == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("no target (nil pointer to []string)")
+	}
+	if *s.value == nil || !s.changed {
 		*s.value = make([]string, 0)
 	}
 	*s.value = append(*s.value, val)