diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1486777c1..497c39d39 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -271,6 +271,13 @@ govulncheck:
 	$(_Q)go tool govulncheck ./...
 	@echo "  govulncheck ok"
 
+# NilAway — advisory nil-panic analysis. Not in preflight: it has a known
+# false-positive rate, so findings are triaged by hand rather than gating commits.
+nilaway:
+	@echo "Running nilaway..."
+	$(_Q)go tool nilaway -include-pkgs=github.com/mulgadc/spinifex -exclude-test-files ./...
+	@echo "  nilaway ok"
+
 # Build release tarballs — use distro-ARCH for single arch, distro for both
 distro: distro-amd64 distro-arm64
 	@echo ""
@@ -317,5 +324,5 @@ distro-clean:
 .PHONY: build build-ui build-installer build-lb-agent build-ecs-agent build-system-image build-eks-node-image import-eks-node-image publish-eks-node-image build-ecs-node-image import-ecs-node-image build-microvm-image install-microvm go_build preflight test test-cover test-race diff-coverage bench test-actions test-harness test-integration manifest-check manifest-lint manifest-lint-update \
 	deploy reinstall clean \
 	install-system install-go install-aws quickinstall \
-	lint fix govulncheck \
+	lint fix govulncheck nilaway \
 	distro distro-amd64 distro-arm64 distro-clean
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 4d695b07a..8ddad492f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -187,7 +187,9 @@ require (
 	go.opentelemetry.io/auto/sdk v1.2.1 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlptrace v1.44.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/proto/otlp v1.10.0 // indirect
+	go.uber.org/nilaway v0.0.0-20260721205819-4a0f7653488a // indirect
 	go.yaml.in/yaml/v2 v2.4.4 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20260611194520-c48552f49976 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/mod v0.37.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.56.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/telemetry v0.0.0-20260625142307-59b4966ccb57 // indirect
@@ -215,4 +217,7 @@ require (
 // stop requiring the monolith.
 replace google.golang.org/genproto => google.golang.org/genproto v0.0.0-20260622175928-b703f567277d
 
-tool golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck
+tool (
+	go.uber.org/nilaway/cmd/nilaway
+	golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 539ec7bcb..6128d2471 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1812,6 +1812,8 @@ go.uber.org/multierr v1.1.0/go.mod h1:wR5kodmAFQ0UK8QlbwjlSNy0Z68gJhDJUG5sjR94q/
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.3.0/go.mod h1:VgVr7evmIr6uPjLBxg28wmKNXyqE9akIJ5XnfpiKl+4=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.5.0/go.mod h1:FeouvMocqHpRaaGuG9EjoKcStLC43Zu/fmqdUMPcKYU=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.6.0/go.mod h1:cdWPpRnG4AhwMwsgIHip0KRBQjJy5kYEpYjJxpXp9iU=
+go.uber.org/nilaway v0.0.0-20260721205819-4a0f7653488a h1:CsRd824LAzMmlpu9nYv2PHOqPQYv4Zjd4kGM+g0ahS0=
+go.uber.org/nilaway v0.0.0-20260721205819-4a0f7653488a/go.mod h1:i9Hi8GeZFLBtUCXP73ZNSHKZ4K2JtxT0pLmo3sbJzlo=
 go.uber.org/tools v0.0.0-20190618225709-2cfd321de3ee/go.mod h1:vJERXedbb3MVM5f9Ejo0C68/HhF8uaILCdgjnY+goOA=
 go.uber.org/zap v1.10.0/go.mod h1:vwi/ZaCAaUcBkycHslxD9B2zi4UTXhF60s6SWpuDF0Q=
 go.uber.org/zap v1.13.0/go.mod h1:zwrFLgMcdUuIBviXEYEH1YKNaOBnKXsx2IPda5bBwHM=
@@ -1911,6 +1913,8 @@ golang.org/x/exp/shiny v0.0.0-20230801115018-d63ba01acd4b/go.mod h1:UH99kUObWAZk
 golang.org/x/exp/shiny v0.0.0-20230817173708-d852ddb80c63/go.mod h1:UH99kUObWAZkDnWqppdQe5ZhPYESUw8I0zVV1uWBR+0=
 golang.org/x/exp/shiny v0.0.0-20240707233637-46b078467d37/go.mod h1:3F+MieQB7dRYLTmnncoFbb1crS5lfQoTfDgQy6K4N0o=
 golang.org/x/exp/shiny v0.0.0-20241009180824-f66d83c29e7c/go.mod h1:3F+MieQB7dRYLTmnncoFbb1crS5lfQoTfDgQy6K4N0o=
+golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20260611194520-c48552f49976 h1:GTD/WuaexTazIG/SxLOz4rEKZPDVilmVVC2nz4xhwfE=
+golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20260611194520-c48552f49976/go.mod h1:PqrXSW65cXDZH0k4IeUbhmg/bcAZDbzNz3byBpKCsXo=
 golang.org/x/image v0.0.0-20180708004352-c73c2afc3b81/go.mod h1:ux5Hcp/YLpHSI86hEcLt0YII63i6oz57MZXIpbrjZUs=
 golang.org/x/image v0.0.0-20190227222117-0694c2d4d067/go.mod h1:kZ7UVZpmo3dzQBMxlp+ypCbDeSB+sBbTgSJuh5dn5js=
 golang.org/x/image v0.0.0-20190802002840-cff245a6509b/go.mod h1:FeLwcggjj3mMvU+oOTbSwawSJRM1uh48EjtB4UJZlP0=