diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/addons_list.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/addons_list.go
index 5e19e09a9cf6..a76b9768c8c1 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/addons_list.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/addons_list.go
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ var printAddonsJSON = func(cc *config.ClusterConfig) {
 	addonsMap := map[string]map[string]interface{}{}
 
 	for _, addonName := range addonNames {
+		if cc == nil {
+			addonsMap[addonName] = map[string]interface{}{}
+			continue
+		}
+
 		addonBundle := assets.Addons[addonName]
 		enabled := addonBundle.IsEnabled(cc)
 
diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/addons_list_test.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/addons_list_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..381295d392a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/addons_list_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.
+
+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 config
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/out"
+)
+
+func TestAddonsList(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("NonExistingClusterTable", func(t *testing.T) {
+		b := make([]byte, 167)
+		r, w, err := os.Pipe()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to create pipe: %v", err)
+		}
+		old := os.Stdout
+		defer func() { os.Stdout = old }()
+		os.Stdout = w
+		printAddonsList(nil)
+		if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to close pipe: %v", err)
+		}
+		if _, err := r.Read(b); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to read bytes: %v", err)
+		}
+		got := string(b)
+		expected := `|-----------------------------|-----------------------|
+|         ADDON NAME          |      MAINTAINER       |
+|-----------------------------|-----------------------|`
+		if got != expected {
+			t.Errorf("Expected header to be: %q; got = %q", expected, got)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("NonExistingClusterJSON", func(t *testing.T) {
+		type addons struct {
+			Ambassador *interface{} `json:"ambassador"`
+		}
+
+		b := make([]byte, 534)
+		r, w, err := os.Pipe()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to create pipe: %v", err)
+		}
+		old := os.Stdout
+		defer func() {
+			os.Stdout = old
+			out.SetOutFile(os.Stdout)
+		}()
+		os.Stdout = w
+		out.SetOutFile(os.Stdout)
+		printAddonsJSON(nil)
+		if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to close pipe: %v", err)
+		}
+		if _, err := r.Read(b); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to read bytes: %v", err)
+		}
+		got := addons{}
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &got); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("failed to unmarshal output; output: %q; err: %v", string(b), err)
+		}
+		if got.Ambassador == nil {
+			t.Errorf("expected `ambassador` field to not be nil, but was")
+		}
+	})
+}