diff --git a/pkg/cmd/grafana/apiserver/cmd.go b/pkg/cmd/grafana/apiserver/cmd.go
index bfa7e532a46..a7a621adad7 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/grafana/apiserver/cmd.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/grafana/apiserver/cmd.go
@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@ func newCommandStartExampleAPIServer(o *APIServerOptions, stopCh <-chan struct{}
 	}
 
 	cmd.Flags().StringVar(&runtimeConfig, "runtime-config", "", "A set of key=value pairs that enable or disable built-in APIs.")
-	o.factory.GetOptions().AddFlags(cmd.Flags())
+
+	if factoryOptions := o.factory.GetOptions(); factoryOptions != nil {
+		factoryOptions.AddFlags(cmd.Flags())
+	}
 
 	// Register standard k8s flags with the command line
 	o.RecommendedOptions = options.NewRecommendedOptions(