diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index b74fe7fa8..9dbd64d12 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ require (
 	sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-network-proxy/konnectivity-client v0.34.0 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20250730193827-2d320260d730 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/randfill v1.0.0 // indirect
-	sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.1 // indirect
+	sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.2 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.6.0 // indirect
 )
 
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 898f81039..82969e251 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20250730193827-2d320260d730 h1:IpInykpT6ceI+QxKBbEflcR5E
 sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20250730193827-2d320260d730/go.mod h1:mdzfpAEoE6DHQEN0uh9ZbOCuHbLK5wOm7dK4ctXE9Tg=
 sigs.k8s.io/randfill v1.0.0 h1:JfjMILfT8A6RbawdsK2JXGBR5AQVfd+9TbzrlneTyrU=
 sigs.k8s.io/randfill v1.0.0/go.mod h1:XeLlZ/jmk4i1HRopwe7/aU3H5n1zNUcX6TM94b3QxOY=
-sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.1 h1:JrhdFMqOd/+3ByqlP2I45kTOZmTRLBUm5pvRjeheg7E=
-sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.1/go.mod h1:M3W8sfWvn2HhQDIbGWj3S099YozAsymCo/wrT5ohRUE=
+sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.2 h1:kwVWMx5yS1CrnFWA/2QHyRVJ8jM6dBA80uLmm0wJkk8=
+sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.2/go.mod h1:M3W8sfWvn2HhQDIbGWj3S099YozAsymCo/wrT5ohRUE=
 sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.6.0 h1:G8fkbMSAFqgEFgh4b1wmtzDnioxFCUgTZhlbj5P9QYs=
 sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.6.0/go.mod h1:796bPqUfzR/0jLAl6XjHl3Ck7MiyVv8dbTdyT3/pMf4=
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index 5dd8a0ae2..5c479f6d3 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -1215,7 +1215,7 @@ sigs.k8s.io/json/internal/golang/encoding/json
 ## explicit; go 1.18
 sigs.k8s.io/randfill
 sigs.k8s.io/randfill/bytesource
-# sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.1
+# sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.2
 ## explicit; go 1.23
 sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6/fieldpath
 sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6/merge
diff --git a/vendor/sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6/value/reflectcache.go b/vendor/sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6/value/reflectcache.go
index 3b4a402ee..75b7085c3 100644
--- a/vendor/sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6/value/reflectcache.go
+++ b/vendor/sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6/value/reflectcache.go
@@ -84,6 +84,10 @@ func (f *FieldCacheEntry) CanOmit(fieldVal reflect.Value) bool {
 func (f *FieldCacheEntry) GetFrom(structVal reflect.Value) reflect.Value {
 	// field might be nested within 'inline' structs
 	for _, elem := range f.fieldPath {
+		if safeIsNil(structVal) {
+			// if any part of the path is nil, return the zero value for the field type
+			return reflect.Zero(f.fieldType)
+		}
 		structVal = dereference(structVal).FieldByIndex(elem)
 	}
 	return structVal