diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 6e966d0..450d3f7 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.17.0
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.7.0
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.61.0
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.31.0
 	k8s.io/api v0.28.4
@@ -69,7 +70,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/prometheus/common v0.44.0 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.12.0 // indirect
 	github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0 // indirect
-	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4 // indirect
 	github.com/urfave/cli v1.22.2 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.26.0 // indirect
diff --git a/pkg/events/owner.go b/pkg/events/owner.go
index bad7484..2ed3441 100644
--- a/pkg/events/owner.go
+++ b/pkg/events/owner.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import (
 // ManagingOwner returns the controller owner of the resource if present.
 func ManagingOwner(owners []v1.OwnerReference) *v1.OwnerReference {
 	for _, o := range owners {
-		if *o.Controller {
+		if o.Controller != nil && *o.Controller {
 			return &o
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/events/owner_test.go b/pkg/events/owner_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..24b0d60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/events/owner_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+// Copyright 2024 The Falco Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package events
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/utils/ptr"
+)
+
+func TestManagingOwner(t *testing.T) {
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		references []v1.OwnerReference
+		expected   bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "Controller is set to true",
+			references: []v1.OwnerReference{{
+				Controller: ptr.To(true),
+			}},
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "Controller is set to false",
+			references: []v1.OwnerReference{{
+				Controller: ptr.To(false),
+			}},
+			expected: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "Controller is set to nil",
+			references: []v1.OwnerReference{{
+				Controller: nil,
+			}},
+			expected: false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		test := test
+
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			if ManagingOwner(test.references) == nil {
+				require.False(t, test.expected)
+			} else {
+				require.True(t, test.expected)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}