diff --git a/pkg/common/utils/utils.go b/pkg/common/utils/utils.go
index 837cd1d1b..220b68d14 100644
--- a/pkg/common/utils/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/common/utils/utils.go
@@ -179,16 +179,18 @@ func PodUnderCondition(pod *v1.Pod, condition *v1.PodCondition) bool {
 // get namespace guaranteed resource from namespace annotation
 func GetNamespaceGuaranteedFromAnnotation(namespaceObj *v1.Namespace) *si.Resource {
 	// retrieve guaranteed resource info from annotations
-	namespaceGuaranteed := GetNameSpaceAnnotationValue(namespaceObj, constants.NamespaceGuaranteed)
-	var namespaceGuaranteedMap map[string]string
-	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(namespaceGuaranteed), &namespaceGuaranteedMap)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Log(log.ShimUtils).Warn("Unable to process namespace.guaranteed annotation",
-			zap.String("namespace", namespaceObj.Name),
-			zap.String("namespace.guaranteed is", namespaceGuaranteed))
-		return nil
+	if guaranteed := GetNameSpaceAnnotationValue(namespaceObj, constants.NamespaceGuaranteed); guaranteed != "" {
+		var namespaceGuaranteedMap map[string]string
+		err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(guaranteed), &namespaceGuaranteedMap)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Log(log.ShimUtils).Warn("Unable to process namespace.guaranteed annotation",
+				zap.String("namespace", namespaceObj.Name),
+				zap.String("namespace.guaranteed is", guaranteed))
+			return nil
+		}
+		return common.GetResource(namespaceGuaranteedMap)
 	}
-	return common.GetResource(namespaceGuaranteedMap)
+	return nil
 }
 
 func GetNamespaceQuotaFromAnnotation(namespaceObj *v1.Namespace) *si.Resource {
diff --git a/pkg/common/utils/utils_test.go b/pkg/common/utils/utils_test.go
index 77799999c..d7307d3cc 100644
--- a/pkg/common/utils/utils_test.go
+++ b/pkg/common/utils/utils_test.go
@@ -283,6 +283,21 @@ func TestGetNamespaceGuaranteedFromAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		}, nil},
+		{&v1.Namespace{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name:      "test",
+				Namespace: "test",
+				Annotations: map[string]string{
+					constants.NamespaceGuaranteed: "error",
+				},
+			},
+		}, nil},
+		{&v1.Namespace{
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name:      "test",
+				Namespace: "test",
+			},
+		}, nil},
 	}
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
 		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("namespace: %v", tc.namespace), func(t *testing.T) {