diff --git a/src/plugins/dashboard/common/saved_dashboard_references.ts b/src/plugins/dashboard/common/saved_dashboard_references.ts
index 9f0858759d0d9d..9757415a7bc360 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dashboard/common/saved_dashboard_references.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/dashboard/common/saved_dashboard_references.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ export function extractReferences(
   }
 
   const { panels, state } = dashboardAttributesToState(attributes);
+  if (!Array.isArray(panels)) {
+    return { attributes, references };
+  }
 
   if (((panels as unknown) as Array<Record<string, string>>).some(isPre730Panel)) {
     return pre730ExtractReferences({ attributes, references }, deps);