diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer.go b/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer.go
index 55f26172e9..f7622520a8 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer.go
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ func (c *Consumer) SetCredential(log logrus.FieldLogger, credType string, credCo
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode key-auth credential: %w", err)
 
 		}
+		// TODO we perform these validity checks here because passing credentials without these fields will panic deck
+		// later on. Ideally this should not be handled in the controller, but we cannot currently handle it elsewhere
+		// (i.e. in deck or go-kong) without entering a sync failure loop that cannot actually report the problem
+		// piece of configuration. if we can address those limitations, we should remove these checks.
+		// See https://github.com/Kong/deck/pull/223 and https://github.com/Kong/kubernetes-ingress-controller/issues/532
+		// for more discussion.
+		if cred.Key == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("key-auth for consumer %s is invalid: no key", *c.Username)
+		}
 		c.KeyAuths = append(c.KeyAuths, &cred)
 	case "basic-auth", "basicauth_credential":
 		var cred kong.BasicAuth
@@ -40,6 +49,9 @@ func (c *Consumer) SetCredential(log logrus.FieldLogger, credType string, credCo
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode basic-auth credential: %w", err)
 		}
+		if cred.Username == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("basic-auth for consumer %s is invalid: no username", *c.Username)
+		}
 		c.BasicAuths = append(c.BasicAuths, &cred)
 	case "hmac-auth", "hmacauth_credential":
 		var cred kong.HMACAuth
@@ -47,6 +59,9 @@ func (c *Consumer) SetCredential(log logrus.FieldLogger, credType string, credCo
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode hmac-auth credential: %w", err)
 		}
+		if cred.Username == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("hmac-auth for consumer %s is invalid: no username", *c.Username)
+		}
 		c.HMACAuths = append(c.HMACAuths, &cred)
 	case "oauth2":
 		var cred kong.Oauth2Credential
@@ -54,6 +69,9 @@ func (c *Consumer) SetCredential(log logrus.FieldLogger, credType string, credCo
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to decode oauth2 credential: %w", err)
 		}
+		if cred.ClientID == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("oauth2 for consumer %s is invalid: no client_id", *c.Username)
+		}
 		c.Oauth2Creds = append(c.Oauth2Creds, &cred)
 	case "jwt", "jwt_secret":
 		var cred kong.JWTAuth
@@ -70,6 +88,9 @@ func (c *Consumer) SetCredential(log logrus.FieldLogger, credType string, credCo
 		if cred.Algorithm == nil || *cred.Algorithm == "" {
 			cred.Algorithm = kong.String("HS256")
 		}
+		if cred.Key == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("jwt-auth for consumer %s is invalid: no key", *c.Username)
+		}
 		c.JWTAuths = append(c.JWTAuths, &cred)
 	case "acl":
 		var cred kong.ACLGroup
@@ -77,6 +98,9 @@ func (c *Consumer) SetCredential(log logrus.FieldLogger, credType string, credCo
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Errorf("failed to process ACL group: %v", err)
 		}
+		if cred.Group == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("acl for consumer %s is invalid: no group", *c.Username)
+		}
 		c.ACLGroups = append(c.ACLGroups, &cred)
 	default:
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid credential type: '%v'", credType)
diff --git a/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer_test.go b/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer_test.go
index 88b5a6c867..9a158f1436 100644
--- a/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer_test.go
+++ b/internal/ingress/controller/parser/kongstate/consumer_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestConsumer_SetCredential(t *testing.T) {
+	username := "example"
 	type args struct {
 		credType   string
 		consumer   *Consumer
@@ -46,6 +47,16 @@ func TestConsumer_SetCredential(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "key-auth without key",
+			args: args{
+				credType:   "key-auth",
+				consumer:   &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+				credConfig: map[string]string{},
+			},
+			result:  &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "keyauth_credential",
 			args: args{
@@ -82,6 +93,16 @@ func TestConsumer_SetCredential(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "basic-auth without username",
+			args: args{
+				credType:   "basic-auth",
+				consumer:   &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+				credConfig: map[string]string{},
+			},
+			result:  &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "basicauth_credential",
 			args: args{
@@ -122,6 +143,16 @@ func TestConsumer_SetCredential(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "hmac-auth without username",
+			args: args{
+				credType:   "hmac-auth",
+				consumer:   &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+				credConfig: map[string]string{},
+			},
+			result:  &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "hmacauth_credential",
 			args: args{
@@ -166,6 +197,16 @@ func TestConsumer_SetCredential(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "oauth2 without client_id",
+			args: args{
+				credType:   "oauth2",
+				consumer:   &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+				credConfig: map[string]string{},
+			},
+			result:  &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "jwt",
 			args: args{
@@ -190,6 +231,16 @@ func TestConsumer_SetCredential(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "jwt without key",
+			args: args{
+				credType:   "jwt",
+				consumer:   &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+				credConfig: map[string]string{},
+			},
+			result:  &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "jwt_secret",
 			args: args{
@@ -230,6 +281,16 @@ func TestConsumer_SetCredential(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "acl without group",
+			args: args{
+				credType:   "acl",
+				consumer:   &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+				credConfig: map[string]string{},
+			},
+			result:  &Consumer{Consumer: kong.Consumer{Username: &username}},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {