diff --git a/collector/udp_queues_linux.go b/collector/udp_queues_linux.go
index 104fda39..15beb907 100644
--- a/collector/udp_queues_linux.go
+++ b/collector/udp_queues_linux.go
@@ -61,7 +61,9 @@ func (c *udpQueuesCollector) Update(ch chan<- prometheus.Metric) error {
 	if errIPv4 == nil {
 		ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(s4.TxQueueLength), "tx", "v4")
 		ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(s4.RxQueueLength), "rx", "v4")
-		ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(*s4.Drops), "drops", "v4")
+		if s4.Drops != nil {
+			ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(*s4.Drops), "drops", "v4")
+		}
 	} else {
 		if errors.Is(errIPv4, os.ErrNotExist) {
 			c.logger.Debug("not collecting ipv4 based metrics")
@@ -74,7 +76,9 @@ func (c *udpQueuesCollector) Update(ch chan<- prometheus.Metric) error {
 	if errIPv6 == nil {
 		ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(s6.TxQueueLength), "tx", "v6")
 		ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(s6.RxQueueLength), "rx", "v6")
-		ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(*s6.Drops), "drops", "v6")
+		if s6.Drops != nil {
+			ch <- prometheus.MustNewConstMetric(c.desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(*s6.Drops), "drops", "v6")
+		}
 	} else {
 		if errors.Is(errIPv6, os.ErrNotExist) {
 			c.logger.Debug("not collecting ipv6 based metrics")