diff --git a/plugins/inputs/kubernetes/kubernetes.go b/plugins/inputs/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
index 0a4261fc152fc..a9bb6ef4850d8 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/kubernetes/kubernetes.go
@@ -207,6 +207,9 @@ func (k *Kubernetes) gatherPodInfo(baseURL string) ([]Metadata, error) {
 
 func (k *Kubernetes) LoadJson(url string, v interface{}) error {
 	var req, err = http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	var resp *http.Response
 	tlsCfg, err := k.ClientConfig.TLSConfig()
 	if err != nil {