diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 4ab14213..f3b032b7 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/openshift/api v0.0.0-20251015135203-5d856d3e8354
 	github.com/openshift/client-go v0.0.0-20251015124057-db0dee36e235
 	github.com/operator-framework/api v0.41.0
-	github.com/operator-framework/operator-manifest-tools v0.11.0
+	github.com/operator-framework/operator-manifest-tools v0.12.0
 	github.com/shurcooL/graphql v0.0.0-20230722043721-ed46e5a46466
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.9.4
 	github.com/spf13/afero v1.15.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 8eecd494..e8191077 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -181,8 +181,8 @@ github.com/openshift/client-go v0.0.0-20251015124057-db0dee36e235 h1:9JBeIXmnHlp
 github.com/openshift/client-go v0.0.0-20251015124057-db0dee36e235/go.mod h1:L49W6pfrZkfOE5iC1PqEkuLkXG4W0BX4w8b+L2Bv7fM=
 github.com/operator-framework/api v0.41.0 h1:B0nutndl95elbLXJGRlkFNTI8OuZIjSqvTEeORPhTKo=
 github.com/operator-framework/api v0.41.0/go.mod h1:Ouud+eqruzll9X3iv8wuAOTNAyyEncYXp4IVgbIlIdg=
-github.com/operator-framework/operator-manifest-tools v0.11.0 h1:4qJ6c2XqPSKzlqyyM41bCEfN/+tYQsDwWckW0vL8rlk=
-github.com/operator-framework/operator-manifest-tools v0.11.0/go.mod h1:Tp0cSG7X7/6k6tmKLeEpPq5f1fw6RiqwyfoNIWOz6v8=
+github.com/operator-framework/operator-manifest-tools v0.12.0 h1:RZU49mLdyHv2C9OMXuQXMYteKan6LahX5P66r1iLrYw=
+github.com/operator-framework/operator-manifest-tools v0.12.0/go.mod h1:Qe6H69HTSnzdMZxDZ584yQAr/+hQwEeEZI0NwmHbigg=
 github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4 h1:mye9XuhQ6gvn5h28+VilKrrPoQVanw5PMw/TB0t5Ec4=
 github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4/go.mod h1:2gIqNv+qfxSVS7cM2xJQKtLSTLUE9V8t9Stt+h56mCY=
 github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 h1:FEBLx1zS214owpjy7qsBeixbURkuhQAwrK5UwLGTwt4=
diff --git a/internal/policy/operator/certified_images_test.go b/internal/policy/operator/certified_images_test.go
index af003247..b13e2c9a 100644
--- a/internal/policy/operator/certified_images_test.go
+++ b/internal/policy/operator/certified_images_test.go
@@ -215,5 +215,31 @@ spec:
 			Expect(result).To(BeFalse())
 		})
 	})
+	When("the CSV has empty relatedImages entries", func() {
+		It("should handle gracefully without panicking", func() {
+			csvContents := `kind: ClusterServiceVersion
+apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
+spec:
+  install:
+    spec:
+      deployments:
+      - spec:
+          template:
+            spec:
+              containers:
+              - image: registry.example.io/foo/bar@sha256:f000432f07cd187469f0310e3ed9dcf9a5db2be14b8bab9c5293dd1ee8518176
+                name: the-operator
+  relatedImages:
+  - name: the-operator
+    image: registry.example.io/foo/bar@sha256:f000432f07cd187469f0310e3ed9dcf9a5db2be14b8bab9c5293dd1ee8518176
+  - name: ''
+    image: ''`
+			Expect(os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(imageRef.ImageFSPath, manifestsDir, clusterServiceVersionFilename), []byte(csvContents), 0o644)).To(Succeed())
+			result, err := certifiedImagesCheck.Validate(context.TODO(), imageRef)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(result).To(BeFalse())
+			Expect(certifiedImagesCheck.nonCertifiedImages).To(HaveLen(1))
+		})
+	})
 	AssertMetaData(certifiedImagesCheck)
 })