diff --git a/sdk/resource/resource.go b/sdk/resource/resource.go
index 2ebf5fae4b6..6bb2a2805aa 100644
--- a/sdk/resource/resource.go
+++ b/sdk/resource/resource.go
@@ -132,6 +132,9 @@ func (r *Resource) Attributes() []attribute.KeyValue {
 }
 
 func (r *Resource) SchemaURL() string {
+	if r == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
 	return r.schemaURL
 }
 
diff --git a/sdk/resource/resource_test.go b/sdk/resource/resource_test.go
index 20edebd0b48..c461f047955 100644
--- a/sdk/resource/resource_test.go
+++ b/sdk/resource/resource_test.go
@@ -205,6 +205,17 @@ func TestMerge(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	var res *resource.Resource
+	assert.Equal(t, "", res.SchemaURL())
+	assert.Equal(t, "", res.String())
+	assert.Equal(t, []attribute.KeyValue(nil), res.Attributes())
+
+	it := res.Iter()
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, it.Len())
+	assert.True(t, res.Equal(res))
+}
+
 func TestDefault(t *testing.T) {
 	res := resource.Default()
 	require.False(t, res.Equal(resource.Empty()))