diff --git a/.chloggen/fix_46977.yaml b/.chloggen/fix_46977.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a7789eaf8d145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/fix_46977.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: bug_fix
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. receiver/filelog)
+component: receiver/vcenter
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Fixes a nil pointer dereference panic in recordVMStats when scraping metrics from VMs with missing performance counters
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [46977]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext:
+
+# If your change doesn't affect end users or the exported elements of any package,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: []
diff --git a/receiver/vcenterreceiver/metrics.go b/receiver/vcenterreceiver/metrics.go
index 78b7f5f9eeb11..e1d80c83edcc9 100644
--- a/receiver/vcenterreceiver/metrics.go
+++ b/receiver/vcenterreceiver/metrics.go
@@ -258,6 +258,9 @@ func (v *vcenterMetricScraper) recordVMStats(
 	vm *mo.VirtualMachine,
 	hs *mo.HostSystem,
 ) {
+	if vm.Summary.Storage == nil || vm.Config == nil || hs == nil || hs.Summary.Hardware == nil {
+		return
+	}
 	diskUsed := vm.Summary.Storage.Committed
 	diskFree := vm.Summary.Storage.Uncommitted
 
diff --git a/receiver/vcenterreceiver/metrics_test.go b/receiver/vcenterreceiver/metrics_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b48e170bf8ce5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/receiver/vcenterreceiver/metrics_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package vcenterreceiver // import github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/vcenterreceiver
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"github.com/vmware/govmomi/vim25/mo"
+	"github.com/vmware/govmomi/vim25/types"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pcommon"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver/receivertest"
+
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/vcenterreceiver/internal/metadata"
+)
+
+func TestRecordVMStats_IncompleteDataDoesNotPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	scraper := &vcenterMetricScraper{
+		mb: metadata.NewMetricsBuilder(metadata.DefaultMetricsBuilderConfig(), receivertest.NewNopSettings(metadata.Type)),
+	}
+	ts := pcommon.NewTimestampFromTime(time.Now())
+
+	validVM := &mo.VirtualMachine{
+		Config: &types.VirtualMachineConfigInfo{},
+		Summary: types.VirtualMachineSummary{
+			Storage: &types.VirtualMachineStorageSummary{},
+		},
+	}
+	validHost := &mo.HostSystem{
+		Summary: types.HostListSummary{
+			Hardware: &types.HostHardwareSummary{},
+		},
+	}
+
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name string
+		vm   *mo.VirtualMachine
+		hs   *mo.HostSystem
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "nil vm config",
+			vm: &mo.VirtualMachine{
+				Summary: types.VirtualMachineSummary{
+					Storage: &types.VirtualMachineStorageSummary{},
+				},
+			},
+			hs: validHost,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nil vm storage summary",
+			vm: &mo.VirtualMachine{
+				Config: &types.VirtualMachineConfigInfo{},
+			},
+			hs: validHost,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nil host",
+			vm:   validVM,
+			hs:   nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nil host summary hardware",
+			vm:   validVM,
+			hs:   &mo.HostSystem{},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			require.NotPanics(t, func() {
+				scraper.recordVMStats(ts, tc.vm, tc.hs)
+			})
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBuildVMMetrics_IncompleteVMSkipsWithoutError(t *testing.T) {
+	scraper := &vcenterMetricScraper{
+		scrapeData: &vcenterScrapeData{
+			computesByRef: map[string]*mo.ComputeResource{
+				"cr-1": {},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	vm := &mo.VirtualMachine{
+		Runtime: types.VirtualMachineRuntimeInfo{PowerState: types.VirtualMachinePowerStatePoweredOff},
+	}
+	vmRefToComputeRef := map[string]*types.ManagedObjectReference{
+		"": {Type: "ComputeResource", Value: "cr-1"},
+	}
+
+	crRef, groupInfo, err := scraper.buildVMMetrics(
+		pcommon.NewTimestampFromTime(time.Now()),
+		&mo.Datacenter{},
+		vm,
+		vmRefToComputeRef,
+	)
+
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, crRef)
+	require.NotNil(t, groupInfo)
+	require.Equal(t, int64(1), groupInfo.poweredOff)
+	require.Equal(t, int64(0), groupInfo.poweredOn)
+	require.Equal(t, int64(0), groupInfo.templates)
+}
diff --git a/receiver/vcenterreceiver/processors.go b/receiver/vcenterreceiver/processors.go
index aed66088a0da7..9e048c515ebd0 100644
--- a/receiver/vcenterreceiver/processors.go
+++ b/receiver/vcenterreceiver/processors.go
@@ -289,6 +289,25 @@ func (v *vcenterMetricScraper) buildVMMetrics(
 		return crRef, groupInfo, fmt.Errorf("no collected ComputeResource for VM [%s]'s ComputeResource ref: %s", vm.Name, crRef)
 	}
 
+	groupInfo = &vmGroupInfo{poweredOff: 0, poweredOn: 0, suspended: 0, templates: 0}
+	if vm.Config != nil && vm.Config.Template {
+		groupInfo.templates++
+	} else {
+		switch vm.Runtime.PowerState {
+		case "poweredOff":
+			groupInfo.poweredOff++
+		case "poweredOn":
+			groupInfo.poweredOn++
+		default:
+			groupInfo.suspended++
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Powered-off/suspended/template VMs can have incomplete data from vSphere.
+	if vm.Config == nil || vm.Summary.Storage == nil {
+		return crRef, groupInfo, nil
+	}
+
 	// Get related VM host info
 	hsRef := vm.Summary.Runtime.Host
 	if hsRef == nil {
@@ -307,20 +326,6 @@ func (v *vcenterMetricScraper) buildVMMetrics(
 		rp = v.scrapeData.rPoolsByRef[rpRef.Value]
 	}
 
-	groupInfo = &vmGroupInfo{poweredOff: 0, poweredOn: 0, suspended: 0, templates: 0}
-	if vm.Config != nil && vm.Config.Template {
-		groupInfo.templates++
-	} else {
-		switch vm.Runtime.PowerState {
-		case "poweredOff":
-			groupInfo.poweredOff++
-		case "poweredOn":
-			groupInfo.poweredOn++
-		default:
-			groupInfo.suspended++
-		}
-	}
-
 	// Create VM resource builder
 	rb, err := v.createVMResourceBuilder(dc, cr, hs, rp, vm)
 	if err != nil {