diff --git a/runtime/kubernetes/pod_tracker.go b/runtime/kubernetes/pod_tracker.go
index 321bafeb..a2ad69e1 100644
--- a/runtime/kubernetes/pod_tracker.go
+++ b/runtime/kubernetes/pod_tracker.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 package kubernetes
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -134,6 +135,9 @@ func (p podTracker) Start(stopCh <-chan struct{}) {
 
 // NewPodTracker initializes a podTracker with a given clientset for a given pod.
 func NewPodTracker(log *logrus.Entry, clientset kubernetes.Interface, pod *v1.Pod, defaultResync time.Duration) (*podTracker, error) {
+	if pod == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("NewPodTracker expected a pod, got nil")
+	}
 	trackedPod := pod.ObjectMeta.Namespace + "/" + pod.ObjectMeta.Name
 	log.Tracef("creating PodTracker for pod %s", trackedPod)
 
diff --git a/runtime/kubernetes/pod_tracker_test.go b/runtime/kubernetes/pod_tracker_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..87a7fecb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/kubernetes/pod_tracker_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2022 Target Brands, Inc. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Use of this source code is governed by the LICENSE file in this repository.
+
+package kubernetes
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+
+	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache"
+)
+
+func TestNewPodTracker(t *testing.T) {
+	// setup types
+	logger := logrus.NewEntry(logrus.StandardLogger())
+	clientset := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		pod     *v1.Pod
+		wantErr bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:    "pass-with-pod",
+			pod:     _pod,
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "error-with-nil-pod",
+			pod:     nil,
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "fail-with-pod",
+			pod: &v1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      "github-octocat-1-for-some-odd-reason-this-name-is-way-too-long-and-will-cause-an-error",
+					Namespace: _pod.ObjectMeta.Namespace,
+					Labels:    _pod.ObjectMeta.Labels,
+				},
+				TypeMeta: _pod.TypeMeta,
+				Spec:     _pod.Spec,
+				Status:   _pod.Status,
+			},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			_, err := NewPodTracker(logger, clientset, tt.pod, time.Second*0)
+			if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
+				t.Errorf("NewPodTracker() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
+				return
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func Test_podTracker_getTrackedPod(t *testing.T) {
+	// setup types
+	logger := logrus.NewEntry(logrus.StandardLogger())
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		trackedPod string // namespace/podName
+		obj        interface{}
+		want       *v1.Pod
+	}{
+		{
+			name:       "got-tracked-pod",
+			trackedPod: "test/github-octocat-1",
+			obj:        _pod,
+			want:       _pod,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "wrong-pod",
+			trackedPod: "test/github-octocat-2",
+			obj:        _pod,
+			want:       nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "invalid-type",
+			trackedPod: "test/github-octocat-1",
+			obj:        new(v1.PodTemplate),
+			want:       nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "nil",
+			trackedPod: "test/nil",
+			obj:        nil,
+			want:       nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "tombstone-pod",
+			trackedPod: "test/github-octocat-1",
+			obj: cache.DeletedFinalStateUnknown{
+				Key: "test/github-octocat-1",
+				Obj: _pod,
+			},
+			want: _pod,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "tombstone-nil",
+			trackedPod: "test/github-octocat-1",
+			obj: cache.DeletedFinalStateUnknown{
+				Key: "test/github-octocat-1",
+				Obj: nil,
+			},
+			want: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "tombstone-invalid-type",
+			trackedPod: "test/github-octocat-1",
+			obj: cache.DeletedFinalStateUnknown{
+				Key: "test/github-octocat-1",
+				Obj: new(v1.PodTemplate),
+			},
+			want: nil,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			p := podTracker{
+				Logger:     logger,
+				TrackedPod: tt.trackedPod,
+				// other fields not used by getTrackedPod
+				// if they're needed, use NewPodTracker
+			}
+			if got := p.getTrackedPod(tt.obj); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, tt.want) {
+				t.Errorf("getTrackedPod() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}