diff --git a/pkg/kapis/iam/v1alpha2/handler.go b/pkg/kapis/iam/v1alpha2/handler.go
index 89c3a110299d422c7480555c5f394bd70a1d0086..3e8070f8aa63531bc96b08fdf211d67672a46496 100644
--- a/pkg/kapis/iam/v1alpha2/handler.go
+++ b/pkg/kapis/iam/v1alpha2/handler.go
@@ -1180,7 +1180,7 @@ func (h *iamHandler) updateGlobalRoleBinding(operator user.Info, user *iamv1alph
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if oldGlobalRole.Name == globalRole {
+	if oldGlobalRole != nil && oldGlobalRole.Name == globalRole {
 		return nil
 	}