diff --git a/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.cc b/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.cc
index 9845eff3e11..6da587ed9aa 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.cc
+++ b/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.cc
@@ -324,11 +324,17 @@ absl::Status XdsApi::ParseAdsResponse(absl::string_view encoded_response,
       const auto* resource_wrapper = envoy_service_discovery_v3_Resource_parse(
           serialized_resource.data(), serialized_resource.size(), arena.ptr());
       if (resource_wrapper == nullptr) {
-        parser->ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(i);
+        parser->ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(
+            i, "Can't decode Resource proto wrapper");
         continue;
       }
       const auto* resource =
           envoy_service_discovery_v3_Resource_resource(resource_wrapper);
+      if (resource == nullptr) {
+        parser->ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(
+            i, "No resource present in Resource proto wrapper");
+        continue;
+      }
       type_url = absl::StripPrefix(
           UpbStringToAbsl(google_protobuf_Any_type_url(resource)),
           "type.googleapis.com/");
diff --git a/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.h b/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.h
index 65c55139a70..256998cc24d 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.h
+++ b/src/core/ext/xds/xds_api.h
@@ -75,8 +75,9 @@ class XdsApi {
                                absl::string_view serialized_resource) = 0;
 
     // Called when a resource is wrapped in a Resource wrapper proto but
-    // we fail to deserialize the wrapper proto.
-    virtual void ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(size_t idx) = 0;
+    // we fail to parse the Resource wrapper.
+    virtual void ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(size_t idx,
+                                              absl::string_view message) = 0;
   };
 
   struct ClusterLoadReport {
diff --git a/src/core/ext/xds/xds_client.cc b/src/core/ext/xds/xds_client.cc
index 801c950aa4c..c5a53f66880 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/xds/xds_client.cc
+++ b/src/core/ext/xds/xds_client.cc
@@ -152,7 +152,8 @@ class XdsClient::ChannelState::AdsCallState
                        absl::string_view serialized_resource) override
         ABSL_EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(&XdsClient::mu_);
 
-    void ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(size_t idx) override;
+    void ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(size_t idx,
+                                      absl::string_view message) override;
 
     Result TakeResult() { return std::move(result_); }
 
@@ -878,9 +879,9 @@ void XdsClient::ChannelState::AdsCallState::AdsResponseParser::ParseResource(
 }
 
 void XdsClient::ChannelState::AdsCallState::AdsResponseParser::
-    ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(size_t idx) {
-  result_.errors.emplace_back(absl::StrCat(
-      "resource index ", idx, ": Can't decode Resource proto wrapper"));
+    ResourceWrapperParsingFailed(size_t idx, absl::string_view message) {
+  result_.errors.emplace_back(
+      absl::StrCat("resource index ", idx, ": ", message));
 }
 
 //
diff --git a/test/core/xds/xds_client_corpora/resource_wrapper_empty b/test/core/xds/xds_client_corpora/resource_wrapper_empty
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..534b6a4286b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/core/xds/xds_client_corpora/resource_wrapper_empty
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+bootstrap: "{\"xds_servers\": [{\"server_uri\":\"xds.example.com:443\", \"channel_creds\":[{\"type\": \"fake\"}]}]}"
+actions {
+  start_watch {
+    resource_type {
+      cluster {
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+actions {
+  send_message_to_client {
+    stream_id {
+      ads {
+      }
+    }
+    response {
+      version_info: "envoy.config.cluster.v3.Cluster"
+      resources {
+        type_url: "envoy.service.discovery.v3.Resource"
+      }
+      canary: true
+      type_url: "envoy.config.cluster.v3.Cluster"
+      nonce: "envoy.config.cluster.v3.Cluster"
+    }
+  }
+}