diff --git a/value/reflectcache.go b/value/reflectcache.go
index 3b4a402e..75b7085c 100644
--- a/value/reflectcache.go
+++ b/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
diff --git a/value/valuereflect_test.go b/value/valuereflect_test.go
index 08b0ba14..17164981 100644
--- a/value/valuereflect_test.go
+++ b/value/valuereflect_test.go
@@ -290,6 +290,12 @@ func TestReflectStruct(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedMap:          map[string]interface{}{"int": int64(10), "S": "string"},
 			expectedUnstructured: map[string]interface{}{"int": int64(10), "S": "string"},
 		},
+		{
+			name:                 "embeddedIsNil",
+			val:                  testEmbeddedStruct{},
+			expectedMap:          map[string]interface{}{"int": int64(0), "S": ""},
+			expectedUnstructured: map[string]interface{}{"int": int64(0), "S": ""},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {