diff --git a/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook.go b/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook.go
index 2c09add4ce..0eb4c624b0 100644
--- a/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook.go
+++ b/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook.go
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func (r *OpenTelemetryCollector) validateCRDSpec() error {
 	// validate autoscale with horizontal pod autoscaler
 	if r.Spec.MaxReplicas != nil {
 		if *r.Spec.MaxReplicas < int32(1) {
-			return fmt.Errorf("the OpenTelemetry Spec autoscale configuration is incorrect, maxReplicas should be defined and more than one")
+			return fmt.Errorf("the OpenTelemetry Spec autoscale configuration is incorrect, maxReplicas should be defined and one or more")
 		}
 
 		if r.Spec.Replicas != nil && *r.Spec.Replicas > *r.Spec.MaxReplicas {
@@ -150,15 +150,17 @@ func (r *OpenTelemetryCollector) validateCRDSpec() error {
 		}
 
 		if r.Spec.Autoscaler != nil && r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior != nil {
-			if r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleDown != nil && *r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleDown.StabilizationWindowSeconds < int32(1) {
+			if r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleDown != nil && r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleDown.StabilizationWindowSeconds != nil &&
+				*r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleDown.StabilizationWindowSeconds < int32(1) {
 				return fmt.Errorf("the OpenTelemetry Spec autoscale configuration is incorrect, scaleDown should be one or more")
 			}
 
-			if r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleUp != nil && *r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleUp.StabilizationWindowSeconds < int32(1) {
+			if r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleUp != nil && r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleUp.StabilizationWindowSeconds != nil &&
+				*r.Spec.Autoscaler.Behavior.ScaleUp.StabilizationWindowSeconds < int32(1) {
 				return fmt.Errorf("the OpenTelemetry Spec autoscale configuration is incorrect, scaleUp should be one or more")
 			}
 		}
-		if r.Spec.Autoscaler.TargetCPUUtilization != nil && (*r.Spec.Autoscaler.TargetCPUUtilization < int32(1) || *r.Spec.Autoscaler.TargetCPUUtilization > int32(99)) {
+		if r.Spec.Autoscaler != nil && r.Spec.Autoscaler.TargetCPUUtilization != nil && (*r.Spec.Autoscaler.TargetCPUUtilization < int32(1) || *r.Spec.Autoscaler.TargetCPUUtilization > int32(99)) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("the OpenTelemetry Spec autoscale configuration is incorrect, targetCPUUtilization should be greater than 0 and less than 100")
 		}
 
diff --git a/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook_test.go b/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook_test.go
index 7396b335ee..5e1856c21b 100644
--- a/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook_test.go
+++ b/apis/v1alpha1/opentelemetrycollector_webhook_test.go
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ func TestOTELColValidatingWebhook(t *testing.T) {
 					MaxReplicas: &zero,
 				},
 			},
-			expectedErr: "maxReplicas should be defined and more than one",
+			expectedErr: "maxReplicas should be defined and one or more",
 		},
 		{
 			name: "invalid replicas, greater than max",