diff --git a/br/pkg/aws/BUILD.bazel b/br/pkg/aws/BUILD.bazel
index 4fed52b134b97..eb56eb2138a15 100644
--- a/br/pkg/aws/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/br/pkg/aws/BUILD.bazel
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ go_library(
     deps = [
         "//br/pkg/config",
         "//br/pkg/glue",
+        "//br/pkg/utils",
         "//pkg/util",
         "@com_github_aws_aws_sdk_go//aws",
         "@com_github_aws_aws_sdk_go//aws/awserr",
diff --git a/br/pkg/aws/ebs.go b/br/pkg/aws/ebs.go
index fc4169e6fb817..d95973551a4eb 100644
--- a/br/pkg/aws/ebs.go
+++ b/br/pkg/aws/ebs.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pingcap/log"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/config"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/glue"
+	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/utils"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/pkg/util"
 	"go.uber.org/atomic"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ func (e *EC2Session) WaitSnapshotsCreated(snapIDMap map[string]string, progress
 				log.Info("snapshot completed", zap.String("id", *s.SnapshotId))
 				totalVolumeSize += *s.VolumeSize
 			} else if *s.State == ec2.SnapshotStateError {
-				log.Error("snapshot failed", zap.String("id", *s.SnapshotId), zap.String("error", (*s.StateMessage)))
+				log.Error("snapshot failed", zap.String("id", *s.SnapshotId), zap.String("error", utils.GetOrZero(s.StateMessage)))
 				return 0, errors.Errorf("snapshot %s failed", *s.SnapshotId)
 			} else {
 				log.Debug("snapshot creating...", zap.Stringer("snap", s))
diff --git a/br/pkg/aws/ebs_test.go b/br/pkg/aws/ebs_test.go
index 96fcf358ff952..b44ebac8e4b07 100644
--- a/br/pkg/aws/ebs_test.go
+++ b/br/pkg/aws/ebs_test.go
@@ -145,6 +145,25 @@ func TestWaitSnapshotsCreated(t *testing.T) {
 			expectedSize: 0,
 			expectErr:    true,
 		},
+		{
+			desc: "snapshot failed w/out state message",
+			snapshotsOutput: ec2.DescribeSnapshotsOutput{
+				Snapshots: []*ec2.Snapshot{
+					{
+						SnapshotId: awsapi.String("snap-1"),
+						VolumeSize: awsapi.Int64(1),
+						State:      awsapi.String(ec2.SnapshotStateCompleted),
+					},
+					{
+						SnapshotId:   awsapi.String("snap-2"),
+						State:        awsapi.String(ec2.SnapshotStateError),
+						StateMessage: nil,
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expectedSize: 0,
+			expectErr:    true,
+		},
 		{
 			desc: "snapshots pending",
 			snapshotsOutput: ec2.DescribeSnapshotsOutput{
diff --git a/br/pkg/utils/BUILD.bazel b/br/pkg/utils/BUILD.bazel
index edbbc4dcf2bb5..d776456ca914b 100644
--- a/br/pkg/utils/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/br/pkg/utils/BUILD.bazel
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ go_library(
         "key.go",
         "misc.go",
         "permission.go",
+        "pointer.go",
         "pprof.go",
         "progress.go",
         "register.go",
diff --git a/br/pkg/utils/pointer.go b/br/pkg/utils/pointer.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6f54653a53d7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/br/pkg/utils/pointer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// Copyright 2022 PingCAP, Inc. Licensed under Apache-2.0.
+
+package utils
+
+// GetOrZero returns the value pointed to by p, or a zero value of
+// its type if p is nil.
+func GetOrZero[T any](p *T) T {
+	var zero T
+	if p == nil {
+		return zero
+	}
+	return *p
+}