diff --git a/.changelog/38773.txt b/.changelog/38773.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..83c26a72f73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/38773.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+resource/aws_emr_cluster: Fix panic when reading an instance fleet with an empty `launch_specifications` argument
+```
diff --git a/internal/service/emr/cluster.go b/internal/service/emr/cluster.go
index 56894efac3f..16ce540fa03 100644
--- a/internal/service/emr/cluster.go
+++ b/internal/service/emr/cluster.go
@@ -2132,7 +2132,7 @@ func readInstanceFleetConfig(data map[string]interface{}, InstanceFleetType stri
 		config.InstanceTypeConfigs = expandInstanceTypeConfigs(v.List())
 	}
 
-	if v, ok := data["launch_specifications"].([]interface{}); ok && len(v) == 1 {
+	if v, ok := data["launch_specifications"].([]interface{}); ok && len(v) == 1 && v[0] != nil {
 		config.LaunchSpecifications = expandLaunchSpecification(v[0].(map[string]interface{}))
 	}