diff --git a/changelog/23906.txt b/changelog/23906.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ed3671dbf421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/23906.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+core: fix rare panic due to a race condition with metrics collection during seal
+```
diff --git a/vault/core_metrics.go b/vault/core_metrics.go
index 022e2fcb7b1f..7ceea13c0d59 100644
--- a/vault/core_metrics.go
+++ b/vault/core_metrics.go
@@ -597,14 +597,14 @@ func (c *Core) inFlightReqGaugeMetric() {
 
 // configuredPoliciesGaugeCollector is used to collect gauge label values for the `vault.policy.configured.count` metric
 func (c *Core) configuredPoliciesGaugeCollector(ctx context.Context) ([]metricsutil.GaugeLabelValues, error) {
-	if c.policyStore == nil {
-		return []metricsutil.GaugeLabelValues{}, nil
-	}
-
 	c.stateLock.RLock()
 	policyStore := c.policyStore
 	c.stateLock.RUnlock()
 
+	if policyStore == nil {
+		return []metricsutil.GaugeLabelValues{}, nil
+	}
+
 	ctx = namespace.RootContext(ctx)
 	namespaces := c.collectNamespaces()