diff --git a/plugin/storage/kafka/writer.go b/plugin/storage/kafka/writer.go
index e82ecea735cf..2664beff90ba 100644
--- a/plugin/storage/kafka/writer.go
+++ b/plugin/storage/kafka/writer.go
@@ -57,8 +57,10 @@ func NewSpanWriter(
 	}()
 	go func() {
 		for e := range producer.Errors() {
-			logger.Error(e.Err.Error())
-			writeMetrics.SpansWrittenFailure.Inc(1)
+			if e != nil && e.Err != nil {
+				logger.Error(e.Err.Error())
+				writeMetrics.SpansWrittenFailure.Inc(1)
+			}
 		}
 	}()