diff --git a/pkg/kotsutil/troubleshoot.go b/pkg/kotsutil/troubleshoot.go
index 67a4d08fc8..3b9b51fd99 100644
--- a/pkg/kotsutil/troubleshoot.go
+++ b/pkg/kotsutil/troubleshoot.go
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 func LoadTSKindsFromPath(dir string) (*troubleshootloader.TroubleshootKinds, error) {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(dir); err != nil {
+		if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to stat dir: %s", dir)
+		}
+		return &troubleshootloader.TroubleshootKinds{}, nil
+	}
+
 	var renderedFiles []string
 	err := filepath.Walk(dir,
 		func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
diff --git a/pkg/preflight/preflight.go b/pkg/preflight/preflight.go
index 4ec02d270d..88aea32c97 100644
--- a/pkg/preflight/preflight.go
+++ b/pkg/preflight/preflight.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 func Run(appID string, appSlug string, sequence int64, isAirgap bool, archiveDir string) error {
-	renderedKotsKinds, err := kotsutil.LoadKotsKindsFromPath(filepath.Join(archiveDir, "upstream"))
+	upstreamKotsKinds, err := kotsutil.LoadKotsKindsFromPath(filepath.Join(archiveDir, "upstream"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to load rendered kots kinds")
 	}
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func Run(appID string, appSlug string, sequence int64, isAirgap bool, archiveDir
 			preflight = troubleshootpreflight.ConcatPreflightSpec(preflight, &v)
 		}
 
-		injectDefaultPreflights(preflight, renderedKotsKinds, registrySettings)
+		injectDefaultPreflights(preflight, upstreamKotsKinds, registrySettings)
 
 		numAnalyzers := 0
 		for _, analyzer := range preflight.Spec.Analyzers {
@@ -99,15 +99,15 @@ func Run(appID string, appSlug string, sequence int64, isAirgap bool, archiveDir
 			}
 		}
 		runPreflights = numAnalyzers > 0
-	} else if renderedKotsKinds.Preflight != nil {
+	} else if upstreamKotsKinds.Preflight != nil {
 		// render the preflight file
 		// we need to convert to bytes first, so that we can reuse the renderfile function
-		renderedMarshalledPreflights, err := renderedKotsKinds.Marshal("troubleshoot.replicated.com", "v1beta1", "Preflight")
+		renderedMarshalledPreflights, err := upstreamKotsKinds.Marshal("troubleshoot.replicated.com", "v1beta1", "Preflight")
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to marshal rendered preflight")
 		}
 
-		renderedPreflight, err := render.RenderFile(renderedKotsKinds, registrySettings, appSlug, sequence, isAirgap, util.PodNamespace, []byte(renderedMarshalledPreflights))
+		renderedPreflight, err := render.RenderFile(upstreamKotsKinds, registrySettings, appSlug, sequence, isAirgap, util.PodNamespace, []byte(renderedMarshalledPreflights))
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to render preflights")
 		}
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ func Run(appID string, appSlug string, sequence int64, isAirgap bool, archiveDir
 			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to load rendered preflight")
 		}
 
-		injectDefaultPreflights(preflight, renderedKotsKinds, registrySettings)
+		injectDefaultPreflights(preflight, upstreamKotsKinds, registrySettings)
 
 		numAnalyzers := 0
 		for _, analyzer := range preflight.Spec.Analyzers {
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ func Run(appID string, appSlug string, sequence int64, isAirgap bool, archiveDir
 			}
 		}
 
-		collectors, err := registry.UpdateCollectorSpecsWithRegistryData(preflight.Spec.Collectors, registrySettings, renderedKotsKinds.Installation, renderedKotsKinds.License, &renderedKotsKinds.KotsApplication)
+		collectors, err := registry.UpdateCollectorSpecsWithRegistryData(preflight.Spec.Collectors, registrySettings, upstreamKotsKinds.Installation, upstreamKotsKinds.License, &upstreamKotsKinds.KotsApplication)
 		if err != nil {
 			preflightErr = errors.Wrap(err, "failed to rewrite images in preflight")
 			return preflightErr
diff --git a/pkg/tests/kotsutil/troubleshoot_test.go b/pkg/tests/kotsutil/troubleshoot_test.go
index 9d9279655c..394b85476b 100644
--- a/pkg/tests/kotsutil/troubleshoot_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tests/kotsutil/troubleshoot_test.go
@@ -10,9 +10,10 @@ import (
 
 func Test_LoadTSKindsFromPath(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
-		name             string
-		archiveDir       string
-		wantedPreflights int
+		name              string
+		archiveDir        string
+		wantedPreflights  int
+		wantNilPreflights bool
 	}{
 		{
 			name:             "load single preflight from path",
@@ -29,6 +30,12 @@ func Test_LoadTSKindsFromPath(t *testing.T) {
 			archiveDir:       "cases/no-preflights-in-helm-chart/rendered",
 			wantedPreflights: 0,
 		},
+		{
+			name:              "don't fail if path doesn't exist",
+			archiveDir:        "cases/not-a-real-dir/rendered",
+			wantedPreflights:  0,
+			wantNilPreflights: true,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -36,6 +43,10 @@ func Test_LoadTSKindsFromPath(t *testing.T) {
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantedPreflights, len(got.PreflightsV1Beta2))
+
+			if tt.wantNilPreflights {
+				assert.Nil(t, got.PreflightsV1Beta2)
+			}
 		})
 	}
 }