diff --git a/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/BakeManifestRequest.java b/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/BakeManifestRequest.java
index 6a1eb36c8..783569bfe 100644
--- a/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/BakeManifestRequest.java
+++ b/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/BakeManifestRequest.java
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ public class BakeManifestRequest {
   TemplateRenderer templateRenderer;
   String outputName;
   String outputArtifactName;
-  Map<String, Object> overrides;
+  @Nullable Map<String, Object> overrides;
 
   public enum TemplateRenderer {
     HELM2,
diff --git a/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtils.java b/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtils.java
index f0d74e943..4c6f4594b 100644
--- a/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtils.java
+++ b/rosco-manifests/src/main/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtils.java
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public BakeRecipe buildCommand(
     }
 
     Map<String, Object> overrides = request.getOverrides();
-    if (!overrides.isEmpty()) {
+    if (overrides != null && !overrides.isEmpty()) {
       List<String> overrideList = new ArrayList<>();
       for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : overrides.entrySet()) {
         overrideList.add(entry.getKey() + "=" + entry.getValue().toString());
diff --git a/rosco-manifests/src/test/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtilsTest.java b/rosco-manifests/src/test/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtilsTest.java
index 1a6eb41e9..b6ada5fcf 100644
--- a/rosco-manifests/src/test/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtilsTest.java
+++ b/rosco-manifests/src/test/java/com/netflix/spinnaker/rosco/manifests/helm/HelmTemplateUtilsTest.java
@@ -93,6 +93,15 @@ public void nullReferenceTest() throws IOException {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void realNullReferenceOfOverrides() throws IOException {
+    bakeManifestRequest.setOverrides(null);
+
+    try (BakeManifestEnvironment env = BakeManifestEnvironment.create()) {
+      BakeRecipe recipe = helmTemplateUtils.buildBakeRecipe(env, bakeManifestRequest);
+    }
+  }
+
   public void exceptionDownloading() throws IOException {
     // When artifactDownloader throws an exception, make sure we wrap it and get
     // a chance to include our own message, so the exception that goes up the