diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2328c64fd51fe..a4e540bf2cff0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ Please avoid adding duplicate information across this changelog and JIRA/doc inp
 - The service account "central", which is used by the central deployment, will now include `get` and `list` access to the following resources in the namespace where central is deployed to:
   `pods`, `events`, and `namespaces`. This fixes an issue when generating diagnostic bundles to now correctly include all relevant information within the namespace of central.
 - ROX-13265: Fix missing rationale and remediation texts for default policy "Deployments should have at least one ingress Network Policy"
+- ROX-13500: Previously, deployment YAML check on V1 CronJob workload would cause Central to panic. This is now fixed.
 
 ## [3.72.0]
 
diff --git a/central/detection/service/service_impl_test.go b/central/detection/service/service_impl_test.go
index ee51c2157ee9f..abb1c8f531d0b 100644
--- a/central/detection/service/service_impl_test.go
+++ b/central/detection/service/service_impl_test.go
@@ -530,19 +530,44 @@ spec:
   adminPortalCredentialsRef:
     name: asecretname
 `
+const cronYaml = `
+apiVersion: batch/v1
+kind: CronJob
+metadata:
+  name: example
+  namespace: sst-etcd-backup
+spec:
+  schedule: '@daily'
+  jobTemplate:
+    spec:
+      template:
+        spec:
+          containers:
+            - name: hello
+              image: busybox
+              args:
+                - /bin/sh
+                - '-c'
+                - date; echo Hello from the Kubernetes cluster
+          restartPolicy: OnFailure
+`
 
 func TestParseList_Success(t *testing.T) {
-	_, _, err := getObjectsFromYAML(listYAML)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	_, _, err = getObjectsFromYAML(openshiftDeploymentConfigYaml)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	_, _, err = getObjectsFromYAML(multiYaml)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	_, _, err = getObjectsFromYAML(openshiftDeploymentConfigYaml)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	for name, yaml := range map[string]string{
+		"listYaml":                          listYAML,
+		"openshiftDeploymentConfigYaml":     openshiftDeploymentConfigYaml,
+		"multiYaml":                         multiYaml,
+		"openshiftDeployConfMultiYaml":      openshiftDeploymentConfigYaml,
+		"operatorCRDMultiYaml":              operatorCRDMultiYaml,
+		"operatorCRDYaml":                   operatorCRDYaml,
+		"openshiftRouteWithOperatorCRDYaml": openshiftRouteWithOperatorCRDYaml,
+		"cronYaml":                          cronYaml,
+	} {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			_, _, err := getObjectsFromYAML(yaml)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+		})
+	}
 }
 
 func TestParseList_ConversionToOpenshiftObjects(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources.go b/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources.go
index 821c14bc62a24..3ce422a136cc6 100644
--- a/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources.go
+++ b/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stackrox/rox/pkg/stringutils"
 	"github.com/stackrox/rox/pkg/timestamp"
 	"github.com/stackrox/rox/pkg/utils"
+	batchV1 "k8s.io/api/batch/v1"
 	batchV1beta1 "k8s.io/api/batch/v1beta1"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
@@ -122,6 +123,9 @@ func newWrap(meta metav1.Object, kind, clusterID, registryOverride string) *Depl
 // SpecToPodTemplateSpec turns a top level spec into a podTemplateSpec
 func SpecToPodTemplateSpec(spec reflect.Value) (v1.PodTemplateSpec, error) {
 	templateInterface := spec.FieldByName("Template")
+	if !doesFieldExist(templateInterface) {
+		return v1.PodTemplateSpec{}, errors.Errorf("obj %+v does not have a Template field", spec)
+	}
 	if templateInterface.Type().Kind() == reflect.Ptr && !templateInterface.IsNil() {
 		templateInterface = templateInterface.Elem()
 	}
@@ -237,8 +241,11 @@ func (w *DeploymentWrap) populateFields(obj interface{}) {
 		// types do. So, we need to directly access the Pod's Spec field,
 		// instead of looking for it inside a PodTemplate.
 		podSpec = o.Spec
+	// batch/v1beta1 CronJob is deprecated in v1.21+, unavailable in v1.25+.
 	case *batchV1beta1.CronJob:
 		podSpec = o.Spec.JobTemplate.Spec.Template.Spec
+	case *batchV1.CronJob:
+		podSpec = o.Spec.JobTemplate.Spec.Template.Spec
 	default:
 		podTemplate, err := SpecToPodTemplateSpec(spec)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources_test.go b/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources_test.go
index 286a4c1e89797..4a5c1da479f66 100644
--- a/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources_test.go
+++ b/pkg/protoconv/resources/resources_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	appsV1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
 	appsV1beta2 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1beta2"
+	batchV1 "k8s.io/api/batch/v1"
+	batchV1beta1 "k8s.io/api/batch/v1beta1"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	extV1beta1 "k8s.io/api/extensions/v1beta1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -103,6 +105,42 @@ func TestDaemonSetReplicas(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, int(deploymentWrap.Replicas), 0)
 }
 
+func TestCronJobPopulateSpec(t *testing.T) {
+	deploymentWrap := &DeploymentWrap{
+		Deployment: &storage.Deployment{
+			Type: kubernetes.CronJob,
+		},
+	}
+
+	cronJob1 := &batchV1.CronJob{
+		Spec: batchV1.CronJobSpec{
+			JobTemplate: batchV1.JobTemplateSpec{
+				Spec: batchV1.JobSpec{
+					Template: v1.PodTemplateSpec{
+						Spec: v1.PodSpec{Containers: []v1.Container{{Name: "container1"}}},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	deploymentWrap.populateFields(cronJob1)
+	assert.Equal(t, deploymentWrap.Containers[0].Name, "container1")
+
+	cronJob2 := &batchV1beta1.CronJob{
+		Spec: batchV1beta1.CronJobSpec{
+			JobTemplate: batchV1beta1.JobTemplateSpec{
+				Spec: batchV1.JobSpec{
+					Template: v1.PodTemplateSpec{
+						Spec: v1.PodSpec{Containers: []v1.Container{{Name: "container2"}}},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	deploymentWrap.populateFields(cronJob2)
+	assert.Equal(t, deploymentWrap.Containers[0].Name, "container2")
+}
+
 func TestIsTrackedReference(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := []struct {
 		ref       metav1.OwnerReference