diff --git a/.chloggen/kangyi_k8scluster-nil-pointer.yaml b/.chloggen/kangyi_k8scluster-nil-pointer.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..496c183fe5a81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/kangyi_k8scluster-nil-pointer.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/k8s_cluster
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: fix nil dereference in k8s_cluster receiver
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [47538]
+
+# (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: [user]
diff --git a/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers.go b/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers.go
index 3c44ee9ffee8f..a22aea3ec7caa 100644
--- a/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers.go
+++ b/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers.go
@@ -64,12 +64,14 @@ func RecordSpecMetrics(logger *zap.Logger, mb *metadata.MetricsBuilder, c corev1
 	if cs != nil && cs.LastTerminationState.Terminated != nil {
 		e.SetK8sContainerStatusLastTerminatedReason(cs.LastTerminationState.Terminated.Reason)
 	}
-	image, err := docker.ParseImageName(cs.Image)
-	if err != nil {
-		docker.LogParseError(err, cs.Image, logger)
-	} else {
-		e.SetContainerImageName(image.Repository)
-		e.SetContainerImageTag(image.Tag)
+	if cs != nil {
+		image, err := docker.ParseImageName(cs.Image)
+		if err != nil {
+			docker.LogParseError(err, cs.Image, logger)
+		} else {
+			e.SetContainerImageName(image.Repository)
+			e.SetContainerImageTag(image.Tag)
+		}
 	}
 
 	e.SetK8sPodName(pod.Name)
diff --git a/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers_test.go b/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers_test.go
index 2fb1ba11396a2..264bb4f7c4272 100644
--- a/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers_test.go
+++ b/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/container/containers_test.go
@@ -9,12 +9,273 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pcommon"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pmetric"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver/receivertest"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
 	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+
+	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/internal/metadata"
 )
 
+// metricValue finds a single data point value in m by metric name and data point attributes.
+// Returns (value, found). Only handles Int and Double data points.
+func metricValue(t *testing.T, m pmetric.Metrics, metricName string, dpAttrs map[string]string) (float64, bool) {
+	t.Helper()
+	for i := 0; i < m.ResourceMetrics().Len(); i++ {
+		for j := 0; j < m.ResourceMetrics().At(i).ScopeMetrics().Len(); j++ {
+			metrics := m.ResourceMetrics().At(i).ScopeMetrics().At(j).Metrics()
+			for k := 0; k < metrics.Len(); k++ {
+				metric := metrics.At(k)
+				if metric.Name() != metricName {
+					continue
+				}
+				var dps pmetric.NumberDataPointSlice
+				switch metric.Type() {
+				case pmetric.MetricTypeGauge:
+					dps = metric.Gauge().DataPoints()
+				case pmetric.MetricTypeSum:
+					dps = metric.Sum().DataPoints()
+				default:
+					continue
+				}
+				for l := 0; l < dps.Len(); l++ {
+					dp := dps.At(l)
+					match := true
+					for attrKey, attrVal := range dpAttrs {
+						v, ok := dp.Attributes().Get(attrKey)
+						if !ok || v.Str() != attrVal {
+							match = false
+							break
+						}
+					}
+					if match {
+						switch dp.ValueType() {
+						case pmetric.NumberDataPointValueTypeInt:
+							return float64(dp.IntValue()), true
+						case pmetric.NumberDataPointValueTypeDouble:
+							return dp.DoubleValue(), true
+						}
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return 0, false
+}
+
+func TestRecordSpecMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	pod := &corev1.Pod{
+		ObjectMeta: v1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "test-pod",
+			Namespace: "test-namespace",
+			UID:       types.UID("test-pod-uid"),
+		},
+		Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+			NodeName: "test-node",
+			Containers: []corev1.Container{
+				{
+					Name:  "test-container",
+					Image: "docker/test-image:v1.0",
+					Resources: corev1.ResourceRequirements{
+						Limits: corev1.ResourceList{
+							corev1.ResourceCPU:    resource.MustParse("2"),
+							corev1.ResourceMemory: resource.MustParse("512Mi"),
+						},
+						Requests: corev1.ResourceList{
+							corev1.ResourceCPU:    resource.MustParse("500m"),
+							corev1.ResourceMemory: resource.MustParse("256Mi"),
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	ts := pcommon.Timestamp(time.Now().UnixNano())
+
+	t.Run("running container", func(t *testing.T) {
+		pod := pod.DeepCopy()
+		pod.Status.ContainerStatuses = []corev1.ContainerStatus{
+			{
+				Name:         "test-container",
+				Image:        "docker/test-image:v1.0",
+				ContainerID:  "docker://abc123",
+				Ready:        true,
+				RestartCount: 2,
+				State: corev1.ContainerState{
+					Running: &corev1.ContainerStateRunning{},
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		mb := metadata.NewMetricsBuilder(metadata.DefaultMetricsBuilderConfig(), receivertest.NewNopSettings(metadata.Type))
+		RecordSpecMetrics(zap.NewNop(), mb, pod.Spec.Containers[0], pod, ts)
+		m := mb.Emit()
+
+		v, ok := metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.cpu_request", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.InDelta(t, 0.5, v, 0.001)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.cpu_limit", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.InDelta(t, 2.0, v, 0.001)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.memory_request", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(256*1024*1024), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.memory_limit", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(512*1024*1024), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.restarts", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(2), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.ready", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(1), v)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("terminated container records restarts and ready=0", func(t *testing.T) {
+		pod := pod.DeepCopy()
+		pod.Status.ContainerStatuses = []corev1.ContainerStatus{
+			{
+				Name:         "test-container",
+				Image:        "docker/test-image:v1.0",
+				ContainerID:  "docker://def456",
+				Ready:        false,
+				RestartCount: 5,
+				State: corev1.ContainerState{
+					Terminated: &corev1.ContainerStateTerminated{
+						Reason:   "OOMKilled",
+						ExitCode: 137,
+					},
+				},
+				LastTerminationState: corev1.ContainerState{
+					Terminated: &corev1.ContainerStateTerminated{
+						Reason: "OOMKilled",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		mbc := metadata.DefaultMetricsBuilderConfig()
+		mbc.Metrics.K8sContainerStatusState.Enabled = true
+		mbc.Metrics.K8sContainerStatusReason.Enabled = true
+		mb := metadata.NewMetricsBuilder(mbc, receivertest.NewNopSettings(metadata.Type))
+		RecordSpecMetrics(zap.NewNop(), mb, pod.Spec.Containers[0], pod, ts)
+		m := mb.Emit()
+
+		v, ok := metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.restarts", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(5), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.ready", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(0), v)
+
+		// Terminated state: terminated=1, others=0.
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.state", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.state": "terminated"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(1), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.state", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.state": "running"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(0), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.state", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.state": "waiting"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(0), v)
+
+		// OOMKilled reason=1, others=0.
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.reason", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.reason": "OOMKilled"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(1), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.reason", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.reason": "CrashLoopBackOff"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(0), v)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("waiting container", func(t *testing.T) {
+		pod := pod.DeepCopy()
+		pod.Status.ContainerStatuses = []corev1.ContainerStatus{
+			{
+				Name:         "test-container",
+				Image:        "docker/test-image:v1.0",
+				ContainerID:  "",
+				Ready:        false,
+				RestartCount: 3,
+				State: corev1.ContainerState{
+					Waiting: &corev1.ContainerStateWaiting{
+						Reason: "CrashLoopBackOff",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		}
+
+		mbc := metadata.DefaultMetricsBuilderConfig()
+		mbc.Metrics.K8sContainerStatusState.Enabled = true
+		mbc.Metrics.K8sContainerStatusReason.Enabled = true
+		mb := metadata.NewMetricsBuilder(mbc, receivertest.NewNopSettings(metadata.Type))
+		RecordSpecMetrics(zap.NewNop(), mb, pod.Spec.Containers[0], pod, ts)
+		m := mb.Emit()
+
+		// Waiting state: waiting=1, others=0.
+		v, ok := metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.state", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.state": "waiting"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(1), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.state", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.state": "running"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(0), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.state", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.state": "terminated"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(0), v)
+
+		// CrashLoopBackOff reason=1, others=0.
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.reason", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.reason": "CrashLoopBackOff"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(1), v)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.status.reason", map[string]string{"k8s.container.status.reason": "OOMKilled"})
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t, float64(0), v)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("no matching container status", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Pod has no ContainerStatuses, so cs is nil inside RecordSpecMetrics.
+		// This covers the nil guard added around docker.ParseImageName.
+		pod := pod.DeepCopy()
+
+		mb := metadata.NewMetricsBuilder(metadata.DefaultMetricsBuilderConfig(), receivertest.NewNopSettings(metadata.Type))
+		RecordSpecMetrics(zap.NewNop(), mb, pod.Spec.Containers[0], pod, ts)
+		m := mb.Emit()
+
+		// Resource-level metrics from the spec are still recorded.
+		v, ok := metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.cpu_request", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.InDelta(t, 0.5, v, 0.001)
+
+		v, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.cpu_limit", nil)
+		require.True(t, ok)
+		assert.InDelta(t, 2.0, v, 0.001)
+
+		// Per-status metrics (restarts, ready) are not emitted when cs is nil.
+		_, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.restarts", nil)
+		assert.False(t, ok)
+
+		_, ok = metricValue(t, m, "k8s.container.ready", nil)
+		assert.False(t, ok)
+	})
+}
+
 func TestGetMetadata(t *testing.T) {
 	refTime := v1.Now()
 	pod := &corev1.Pod{