diff --git a/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward.go b/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward.go
index 4328560b..30519e81 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward.go
@@ -223,7 +223,9 @@ func convertPodNamedPortToNumber(ports []string, pod corev1.Pod) ([]string, erro
 	var converted []string
 	for _, port := range ports {
 		localPort, remotePort := splitPort(port)
-
+		if remotePort == "" {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("remote port cannot be empty")
+		}
 		containerPortStr := remotePort
 		_, err := strconv.Atoi(remotePort)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward_test.go b/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward_test.go
index 70b22f07..d6eddb80 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/portforward/portforward_test.go
@@ -820,6 +820,24 @@ func TestConvertPodNamedPortToNumber(t *testing.T) {
 			ports: []string{"https", "http"},
 			err:   true,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "empty port name",
+			pod: corev1.Pod{
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Ports: []corev1.ContainerPort{
+								{
+									ContainerPort: int32(27017)},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			ports:     []string{"28015:"},
+			converted: nil,
+			err:       true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {