diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions.go
index 343a6f550e9..00874f89cc6 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func SetStatusCondition(conditions *[]metav1.Condition, newCondition metav1.Cond
 // RemoveStatusCondition removes the corresponding conditionType from conditions.
 // conditions must be non-nil.
 func RemoveStatusCondition(conditions *[]metav1.Condition, conditionType string) {
-	if conditions == nil {
+	if conditions == nil || len(*conditions) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
 	newConditions := make([]metav1.Condition, 0, len(*conditions)-1)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions_test.go
index e51c5bfc5d9..72e5f680cac 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/conditions_test.go
@@ -121,6 +121,12 @@ func TestRemoveStatusCondition(t *testing.T) {
 				{Type: "third"},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name:          "empty_conditions",
+			conditions:    []metav1.Condition{},
+			conditionType: "Foo",
+			expected:      []metav1.Condition{},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {