diff --git a/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields.go b/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields.go
index cef42e8f2d791..f57104c87dcd7 100644
--- a/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields.go
+++ b/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v4/fieldpath"
@@ -28,12 +29,15 @@ func Normalize(live, config *unstructured.Unstructured, trustedManagers []string
 
 	liveCopy := live.DeepCopy()
 	configCopy := config.DeepCopy()
+	normalized := false
+
 	results, err := newTypedResults(liveCopy, configCopy, pt)
+	// error might happen if the resources are not parsable and so cannot be normalized
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("error building typed results: %s", err)
+		log.Debugf("error building typed results: %v", err)
+		return liveCopy, configCopy, nil
 	}
 
-	normalized := false
 	for _, mf := range live.GetManagedFields() {
 		if trustedManager(mf.Manager, trustedManagers) {
 			err := normalize(mf, results)
diff --git a/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields_test.go b/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields_test.go
index 1085c66a3dab3..ea8d2e545b033 100644
--- a/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields_test.go
+++ b/util/argo/managedfields/managed_fields_test.go
@@ -143,6 +143,16 @@ func TestNormalize(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, 1, len(vwcConfig.Webhooks))
 		assert.Equal(t, "", string(vwcConfig.Webhooks[0].ClientConfig.CABundle))
 	})
+	t.Run("does not fail if object fails validation schema", func(t *testing.T) {
+		desiredState := StrToUnstructured(testdata.DesiredDeploymentYaml)
+		require.NoError(t, unstructured.SetNestedField(desiredState.Object, "spec", "hello", "world"))
+		liveState := StrToUnstructured(testdata.LiveDeploymentWithManagedReplicaYaml)
+
+		pt := parser.Type("io.k8s.api.apps.v1.Deployment")
+
+		_, _, err := managedfields.Normalize(liveState, desiredState, []string{}, &pt)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	})
 }
 
 func validateNestedFloat64(t *testing.T, expected float64, obj *unstructured.Unstructured, fields ...string) {