diff --git a/pkg/ovalutil/dpkg.go b/pkg/ovalutil/dpkg.go
index 89f7bd0e3..37d809d09 100644
--- a/pkg/ovalutil/dpkg.go
+++ b/pkg/ovalutil/dpkg.go
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ func DpkgDefsToVulns(ctx context.Context, root *oval.Root, protoVulns ProtoVulns
 			//
 			// thus we *should* only need to care about a single dpkginfo_object and optionally a state object providing the package's fixed-in version.
 
+			if len(objRefs) == 0 {
+				stats.Obj++
+				continue
+			}
+
 			objRef := objRefs[0].ObjectRef
 			object, err := dpkgObjectLookup(root, objRef)
 			switch {
diff --git a/pkg/ovalutil/objectref_test.go b/pkg/ovalutil/objectref_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c28968706
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/ovalutil/objectref_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package ovalutil
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/xml"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/quay/claircore"
+	"github.com/quay/goval-parser/oval"
+)
+
+// A test element is only required to carry an object reference; a feed that
+// omits it still parses.
+const missingObjectRef = `<oval_definitions>
+  <definitions>
+    <definition id="oval:com.example:def:1" class="patch">
+      <metadata><title>example</title></metadata>
+      <criteria>
+        <criterion test_ref="oval:com.example:tst:1" comment="package is installed"/>
+      </criteria>
+    </definition>
+  </definitions>
+  <tests>
+    <%s id="oval:com.example:tst:1" check="at least one" comment="package is installed"/>
+  </tests>
+</oval_definitions>`
+
+func protoVuln(oval.Definition) ([]*claircore.Vulnerability, error) {
+	return []*claircore.Vulnerability{{Name: "example"}}, nil
+}
+
+func TestDefsToVulnsWithoutObjectRef(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, kind := range []string{"rpminfo_test", "dpkginfo_test"} {
+		t.Run(kind, func(t *testing.T) {
+			root := &oval.Root{}
+			if err := xml.Unmarshal([]byte(fmt.Sprintf(missingObjectRef, kind)), root); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("parsing the oval document: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			var (
+				vulns []*claircore.Vulnerability
+				err   error
+			)
+			switch kind {
+			case "rpminfo_test":
+				vulns, err = RPMDefsToVulns(context.Background(), root, protoVuln)
+			case "dpkginfo_test":
+				vulns, err = DpkgDefsToVulns(context.Background(), root, protoVuln, func(_ oval.Definition, name *oval.DpkgName) []string {
+					return []string{name.Body}
+				})
+			}
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("got an error: %v", err)
+			}
+			if len(vulns) != 0 {
+				t.Errorf("expected the criterion to be skipped, got %d vulnerabilities", len(vulns))
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/ovalutil/rpm.go b/pkg/ovalutil/rpm.go
index df876f79b..99ac4c426 100644
--- a/pkg/ovalutil/rpm.go
+++ b/pkg/ovalutil/rpm.go
@@ -89,6 +89,11 @@ func RPMDefsToVulns(ctx context.Context, root *oval.Root, protoVulns ProtoVulnsF
 			//
 			// thus we *should* only need to care about a single rpminfo_object and optionally a state object providing the package's fixed-in version.
 
+			if len(objRefs) == 0 {
+				slog.DebugContext(ctx, "test has no object reference, moving to next criterion", "test_ref", criterion.TestRef)
+				continue
+			}
+
 			objRef := objRefs[0].ObjectRef
 			object, err := rpmObjectLookup(root, objRef)
 			switch {