diff --git a/internal/k8s/controller.go b/internal/k8s/controller.go
index 5dfd1dadc..a518ec013 100644
--- a/internal/k8s/controller.go
+++ b/internal/k8s/controller.go
@@ -3009,7 +3009,7 @@ func getEndpointsFromEndpointSlicesForSubselectedPods(targetPort int32, pods []*
 				}
 			}
 		}
-		return maps.Keys(endpointSet)
+		return slices.Collect(maps.Keys(endpointSet))
 	}
 
 	return makePodEndpoints(pods, filterReadyEndpointsFrom(selectEndpointSlicesForPort(targetPort, svcEndpointSlices)))
diff --git a/internal/k8s/controller_test.go b/internal/k8s/controller_test.go
index c76a230ee..31458504f 100644
--- a/internal/k8s/controller_test.go
+++ b/internal/k8s/controller_test.go
@@ -1227,7 +1227,7 @@ func TestGetEndpointSlicesBySubselectedPods_GetsEndpointsOnNilValues(t *testing.
 		{
 			desc:       "no endpoints selected on nil endpoint port",
 			targetPort: 8080,
-			want:       []podEndpoint{},
+			want:       nil,
 			pods: []*api_v1.Pod{
 				{
 					ObjectMeta: meta_v1.ObjectMeta{
@@ -1267,7 +1267,7 @@ func TestGetEndpointSlicesBySubselectedPods_GetsEndpointsOnNilValues(t *testing.
 		{
 			desc:       "no endpoints selected on nil endpoint condition",
 			targetPort: 8080,
-			want:       []podEndpoint{},
+			want:       nil,
 			pods: []*api_v1.Pod{
 				{
 					ObjectMeta: meta_v1.ObjectMeta{