diff --git a/changelog.d/kubernetes_logs_fallback_file_path_metadata.fix.md b/changelog.d/kubernetes_logs_fallback_file_path_metadata.fix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8bff3aa19cd56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/kubernetes_logs_fallback_file_path_metadata.fix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+The `kubernetes_logs` source now falls back to extracting pod metadata (namespace, pod name, pod UID, container name) from the log file path when the pod is not found in the Kubernetes API store. Previously, if the pod was deleted before Vector could look it up, the event was sent downstream with no kubernetes metadata at all, causing errors in downstream transforms that expect fields like `namespace_name` to be present.
+
+authors: vparfonov
diff --git a/src/sources/kubernetes_logs/pod_metadata_annotator.rs b/src/sources/kubernetes_logs/pod_metadata_annotator.rs
index 894b4605b923d..d3dfdcaf8bda9 100644
--- a/src/sources/kubernetes_logs/pod_metadata_annotator.rs
+++ b/src/sources/kubernetes_logs/pod_metadata_annotator.rs
@@ -197,14 +197,30 @@ impl PodMetadataAnnotator {
 
 impl PodMetadataAnnotator {
     /// Annotates an event with the information from the [`Pod::metadata`].
+    ///
+    /// When the pod is not found in the API store (e.g. already deleted), falls back
+    /// to populating basic metadata (namespace, pod name, pod UID, container name)
+    /// from the log file path, which is always available.
     pub fn annotate<'a>(&self, event: &mut Event, file: &'a str) -> Option<LogFileInfo<'a>> {
         let log = event.as_mut_log();
         let file_info = parse_log_file_path(file)?;
         let obj = ObjectRef::<Pod>::new(file_info.pod_name).within(file_info.pod_namespace);
-        let resource = self.pods_state_reader.get(&obj)?;
-        let pod: &Pod = resource.as_ref();
+        let resource = self.pods_state_reader.get(&obj);
 
         annotate_from_file_info(log, &self.fields_spec, &file_info, self.log_namespace);
+
+        let Some(resource) = resource else {
+            warn!(
+                message = "Pod not found in API store, annotating from file path only.",
+                pod_namespace = file_info.pod_namespace,
+                pod_name = file_info.pod_name,
+                internal_log_rate_limit = true,
+            );
+            annotate_from_file_path(log, &self.fields_spec, &file_info, self.log_namespace);
+            return Some(file_info);
+        };
+        let pod: &Pod = resource.as_ref();
+
         annotate_from_metadata(log, &self.fields_spec, &pod.metadata, self.log_namespace);
 
         let container;
@@ -262,6 +278,39 @@ fn annotate_from_file_info(
     );
 }
 
+/// Fallback annotation from file path when pod is not in the API store.
+/// Sets pod_name, pod_namespace, and pod_uid from the parsed log file path.
+fn annotate_from_file_path(
+    log: &mut LogEvent,
+    fields_spec: &FieldsSpec,
+    file_info: &LogFileInfo<'_>,
+    log_namespace: LogNamespace,
+) {
+    for (field_spec, metadata_key, value) in [
+        (&fields_spec.pod_name, path!("pod_name"), file_info.pod_name),
+        (
+            &fields_spec.pod_namespace,
+            path!("pod_namespace"),
+            file_info.pod_namespace,
+        ),
+        (&fields_spec.pod_uid, path!("pod_uid"), file_info.pod_uid),
+    ] {
+        let legacy_key = field_spec
+            .path
+            .as_ref()
+            .map(|k| &k.path)
+            .map(LegacyKey::Overwrite);
+
+        log_namespace.insert_source_metadata(
+            Config::NAME,
+            log,
+            legacy_key,
+            metadata_key,
+            value.to_owned(),
+        );
+    }
+}
+
 fn annotate_from_metadata(
     log: &mut LogEvent,
     fields_spec: &FieldsSpec,
@@ -813,6 +862,39 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_annotate_from_file_path() {
+        let path = &format!(
+            "{}{}",
+            std::path::MAIN_SEPARATOR,
+            [
+                "var",
+                "log",
+                "pods",
+                "sandbox0-ns_sandbox0-name_sandbox0-uid",
+                "sandbox0-container0-name",
+                "1.log",
+            ]
+            .iter()
+            .collect::<PathBuf>()
+            .into_os_string()
+            .into_string()
+            .unwrap()
+        );
+        let fields_spec = FieldsSpec::default();
+        let file_info = parse_log_file_path(path).unwrap();
+
+        let mut log = LogEvent::default();
+        annotate_from_file_path(&mut log, &fields_spec, &file_info, LogNamespace::Legacy);
+
+        let mut expected = LogEvent::default();
+        expected.insert(event_path!("kubernetes", "pod_name"), "sandbox0-name");
+        expected.insert(event_path!("kubernetes", "pod_namespace"), "sandbox0-ns");
+        expected.insert(event_path!("kubernetes", "pod_uid"), "sandbox0-uid");
+
+        assert_eq!(log, expected);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_annotate_from_pod_spec() {
         let cases = vec![