diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug.go
index 0c9ec32ca5502..6a6fe892d4ed6 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug.go
@@ -485,6 +485,8 @@ func (o *DebugOptions) generatePodCopyWithDebugContainer(pod *corev1.Pod) (*core
 		},
 		Spec: *pod.Spec.DeepCopy(),
 	}
+	// set EphemeralContainers to nil so that the copy of pod can be created
+	copied.Spec.EphemeralContainers = nil
 	// change ShareProcessNamespace configuration only when commanded explicitly
 	if o.shareProcessedChanged {
 		copied.Spec.ShareProcessNamespace = pointer.BoolPtr(o.ShareProcesses)
@@ -544,11 +546,11 @@ func containerNameToRef(pod *corev1.Pod) map[string]*corev1.Container {
 		names[ref.Name] = ref
 	}
 	for i := range pod.Spec.InitContainers {
-		ref := &pod.Spec.Containers[i]
+		ref := &pod.Spec.InitContainers[i]
 		names[ref.Name] = ref
 	}
 	for i := range pod.Spec.EphemeralContainers {
-		ref := &pod.Spec.Containers[i]
+		ref := (*corev1.Container)(&pod.Spec.EphemeralContainers[i].EphemeralContainerCommon)
 		names[ref.Name] = ref
 	}
 	return names
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug_test.go
index de224cc398ff8..3e0609202896c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/debug/debug_test.go
@@ -153,6 +153,74 @@ func TestGenerateDebugContainer(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "pod with init containers",
+			opts: &DebugOptions{
+				Image:      "busybox",
+				PullPolicy: corev1.PullIfNotPresent,
+			},
+			pod: &corev1.Pod{
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "init-container-1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name: "init-container-2",
+						},
+					},
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "debugger",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expected: &corev1.EphemeralContainer{
+				EphemeralContainerCommon: corev1.EphemeralContainerCommon{
+					Name:                     "debugger-1",
+					Image:                    "busybox",
+					ImagePullPolicy:          "IfNotPresent",
+					TerminationMessagePolicy: "File",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "pod with ephemeral containers",
+			opts: &DebugOptions{
+				Image:      "busybox",
+				PullPolicy: corev1.PullIfNotPresent,
+			},
+			pod: &corev1.Pod{
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "debugger",
+						},
+					},
+					EphemeralContainers: []corev1.EphemeralContainer{
+						{
+							EphemeralContainerCommon: corev1.EphemeralContainerCommon{
+								Name: "ephemeral-container-1",
+							},
+						},
+						{
+							EphemeralContainerCommon: corev1.EphemeralContainerCommon{
+								Name: "ephemeral-container-2",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expected: &corev1.EphemeralContainer{
+				EphemeralContainerCommon: corev1.EphemeralContainerCommon{
+					Name:                     "debugger-1",
+					Image:                    "busybox",
+					ImagePullPolicy:          "IfNotPresent",
+					TerminationMessagePolicy: "File",
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			tc.opts.IOStreams = genericclioptions.NewTestIOStreamsDiscard()
@@ -590,6 +658,110 @@ func TestGeneratePodCopyWithDebugContainer(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "pod with init containers",
+			opts: &DebugOptions{
+				CopyTo:     "debugger",
+				Image:      "busybox",
+				PullPolicy: corev1.PullIfNotPresent,
+			},
+			pod: &corev1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "target",
+				},
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "init-container-1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name: "init-container-2",
+						},
+					},
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "debugger-1",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expected: &corev1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "debugger",
+				},
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					InitContainers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "init-container-1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name: "init-container-2",
+						},
+					},
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "debugger-1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:                     "debugger-2",
+							Image:                    "busybox",
+							ImagePullPolicy:          corev1.PullIfNotPresent,
+							TerminationMessagePolicy: corev1.TerminationMessageReadFile,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "pod with ephemeral containers",
+			opts: &DebugOptions{
+				CopyTo:     "debugger",
+				Image:      "busybox",
+				PullPolicy: corev1.PullIfNotPresent,
+			},
+			pod: &corev1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "target",
+				},
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "debugger-1",
+						},
+					},
+					EphemeralContainers: []corev1.EphemeralContainer{
+						{
+							EphemeralContainerCommon: corev1.EphemeralContainerCommon{
+								Name: "ephemeral-container-1",
+							},
+						},
+						{
+							EphemeralContainerCommon: corev1.EphemeralContainerCommon{
+								Name: "ephemeral-container-2",
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expected: &corev1.Pod{
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: "debugger",
+				},
+				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+					Containers: []corev1.Container{
+						{
+							Name: "debugger-1",
+						},
+						{
+							Name:                     "debugger-2",
+							Image:                    "busybox",
+							ImagePullPolicy:          corev1.PullIfNotPresent,
+							TerminationMessagePolicy: corev1.TerminationMessageReadFile,
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name: "shared process namespace",
 			opts: &DebugOptions{