diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apiresources/apiresources.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apiresources/apiresources.go
index 1959cc1109d..9a45cd907d2 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apiresources/apiresources.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/apiresources/apiresources.go
@@ -229,6 +229,9 @@ func (o *APIResourceOptions) RunAPIResources() error {
 		allResources = append(allResources, apiList)
 	}
 
+	if len(allResources) == 0 {
+		return utilerrors.NewAggregate(errs)
+	}
 	flatList := &metav1.APIResourceList{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
 			APIVersion: allResources[0].APIVersion,