diff --git a/api/builtins/ImageTagTransformer.go b/api/builtins/ImageTagTransformer.go
index c70be9007..051d05521 100644
--- a/api/builtins/ImageTagTransformer.go
+++ b/api/builtins/ImageTagTransformer.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func (p *ImageTagTransformerPlugin) findAndReplaceImage(obj map[string]interface
 	updated := false
 	for _, path := range paths {
 		containers, found := obj[path]
-		if found {
+		if found && containers != nil {
 			if _, err := p.updateContainers(containers); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
diff --git a/api/builtins/PatchJson6902Transformer.go b/api/builtins/PatchJson6902Transformer.go
index be2e430e8..24f6d3061 100644
--- a/api/builtins/PatchJson6902Transformer.go
+++ b/api/builtins/PatchJson6902Transformer.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ package builtins
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	jsonpatch "github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
+	"github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/ifc"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/resid"
diff --git a/api/builtins/PatchTransformer.go b/api/builtins/PatchTransformer.go
index 4cd6f528a..04e678522 100644
--- a/api/builtins/PatchTransformer.go
+++ b/api/builtins/PatchTransformer.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ package builtins
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	jsonpatch "github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
+	"github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/resmap"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/resource"
diff --git a/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer.go b/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer.go
index af5ae4ad7..ccf2482a6 100644
--- a/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer.go
+++ b/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func (p *plugin) findAndReplaceImage(obj map[string]interface{}) error {
 	updated := false
 	for _, path := range paths {
 		containers, found := obj[path]
-		if found {
+		if found && containers != nil {
 			if _, err := p.updateContainers(containers); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
diff --git a/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer_test.go b/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer_test.go
index 767d70917..1234dd4ed 100644
--- a/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer_test.go
+++ b/plugin/builtin/imagetagtransformer/ImageTagTransformer_test.go
@@ -369,3 +369,45 @@ spec:
         name: init-alpine
 `)
 }
+func TestImageTagTransformerEmptyContainers(t *testing.T) {
+	tc := kusttest_test.NewPluginTestEnv(t).Set()
+	defer tc.Reset()
+
+	tc.BuildGoPlugin(
+		"builtin", "", "ImageTagTransformer")
+
+	th := kusttest_test.NewKustTestHarnessAllowPlugins(t, "/app")
+
+	rm := th.LoadAndRunTransformer(`
+apiVersion: builtin
+kind: ImageTagTransformer
+metadata:
+  name: notImportantHere
+imageTag:
+  name: nginx
+  newTag: v2
+`, `
+group: apps
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: deploy1
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      initContainers:
+`)
+	th.AssertActualEqualsExpected(rm, `
+apiVersion: v1
+group: apps
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: deploy1
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers: null
+      initContainers: null
+`)
+}