diff --git a/server/container_create.go b/server/container_create.go
index 4638ef27..ee855d19 100644
--- a/server/container_create.go
+++ b/server/container_create.go
@@ -271,6 +271,10 @@ func (s *Server) createSandboxContainer(containerID string, containerName string
 	// Join the namespace paths for the pod sandbox container.
 	podInfraState := s.runtime.ContainerStatus(sb.infraContainer)
 
+	if podInfraState == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("state of infra container of given sandbox: %q is nil, which is unexpected", sb.metadata.GetName())
+	}
+
 	logrus.Debugf("pod container state %+v", podInfraState)
 
 	for nsType, nsFile := range map[string]string{