diff --git a/processor.go b/processor.go
index cb25654..c9faad4 100644
--- a/processor.go
+++ b/processor.go
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ func (jlp *jsonlogflattenerProcessor) Shutdown(context.Context) error {
 }
 
 func (jlp *jsonlogflattenerProcessor) flatten(ld *plog.Logs) error {
+	defer func() {
+		// if we paniced for some reason, recover from the panic and log
+		// the error message so we don't break the collector workflow
+		if r := recover(); r != nil {
+			jlp.logger.Error(r.(error).Error())
+		}
+	}()
 	var rootErr error
 	for i := 0; i < ld.ResourceLogs().Len(); i++ {
 		for j := 0; j < ld.ResourceLogs().At(i).ScopeLogs().Len(); j++ {
diff --git a/processor_test.go b/processor_test.go
index ee70a1b..ff68dba 100644
--- a/processor_test.go
+++ b/processor_test.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func TestFlatten(t *testing.T) {
 	logs := tln.AllLogs()
 	require.Len(t, logs, 1)
 	attrs := logs[0].ResourceLogs().At(0).ScopeLogs().At(0).LogRecords().At(0).Attributes()
-	require.Equal(t, attrs.Len(), 6)
+	require.Equal(t, attrs.Len(), 7)
 	fooString, exists := attrs.Get("foo-string")
 	require.True(t, exists)
 	require.Equal(t, fooString.Str(), "bar")
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ func buildLogs(count int) plog.Logs {
 		log.Attributes().PutDouble("foo-double", 1.0)
 		log.Attributes().PutInt("foo-int", 1)
 		log.Attributes().PutBool("foo-bool", true)
+		// Add an empty key to make sure empty attributes don't cause a panic
+		log.Attributes().PutEmpty("test")
 		inputFooMap := log.Attributes().PutEmptyMap("foo-map")
 		inputFooMap.PutStr("foo-map-string", "bar")
 		inputFooMap.PutDouble("foo-map-double", 1.0)