diff --git a/pkg/envoy/resource/types.go b/pkg/envoy/resource/types.go
index 7becb6148..3f08c66eb 100644
--- a/pkg/envoy/resource/types.go
+++ b/pkg/envoy/resource/types.go
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ func (rr RefSet) replaceRef(old, new *Ref) RefSet {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if !found {
+	if !found && new != nil {
 		return append(rr, new)
 	}