diff --git a/internal/action/config.go b/internal/action/config.go
index 61a42e201..f19a3972d 100644
--- a/internal/action/config.go
+++ b/internal/action/config.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package action
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"log/slog"
 
 	helmaction "helm.sh/helm/v4/pkg/action"
@@ -183,6 +184,10 @@ func (c *ConfigFactory) Build(log slog.Handler, observers ...storage.ObserveFunc
 	conf.RESTClientGetter = c.Getter
 	conf.Releases = c.NewStorage(observers...)
 	conf.KubeClient = client
+	// Helm's own CLI initialization defaults HookOutputFunc to io.Discard, but
+	// helmaction.NewConfiguration does not. Without it, hooks annotated with
+	// helm.sh/hook-output-log-policy make Helm panic on a nil HookOutputFunc.
+	conf.HookOutputFunc = func(_, _, _ string) io.Writer { return io.Discard }
 	return conf
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/action/config_test.go b/internal/action/config_test.go
index 1c82b6cbf..cbb322997 100644
--- a/internal/action/config_test.go
+++ b/internal/action/config_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package action
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"io"
 	"log/slog"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -257,6 +258,15 @@ func TestConfigFactory_Build(t *testing.T) {
 		g.Expect(cfg.Releases).ToNot(BeNil())
 		g.Expect(cfg.Releases.Driver).To(BeAssignableToTypeOf(&storage.Observer{}))
 	})
+
+	t.Run("sets a non-nil HookOutputFunc", func(t *testing.T) {
+		g := NewWithT(t)
+
+		cfg := (&ConfigFactory{}).Build(nil)
+
+		g.Expect(cfg.HookOutputFunc).ToNot(BeNil())
+		g.Expect(cfg.HookOutputFunc("ns", "pod", "container")).To(Equal(io.Discard))
+	})
 }
 
 func TestConfigFactory_Valid(t *testing.T) {