diff --git a/core/state_transition.go b/core/state_transition.go
index 13f3f32321c9e..6cfe1d9c1a06d 100644
--- a/core/state_transition.go
+++ b/core/state_transition.go
@@ -242,6 +242,10 @@ func (st *StateTransition) buyGas() error {
 	}
 	if st.evm.ChainConfig().IsCancun(st.evm.Context.BlockNumber, st.evm.Context.Time) {
 		if blobGas := st.blobGasUsed(); blobGas > 0 {
+			if st.evm.Context.ExcessBlobGas == nil {
+				// programming error
+				panic("missing field excess data gas")
+			}
 			// Check that the user has enough funds to cover blobGasUsed * tx.BlobGasFeeCap
 			blobBalanceCheck := new(big.Int).SetUint64(blobGas)
 			blobBalanceCheck.Mul(blobBalanceCheck, st.msg.BlobGasFeeCap)