diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 52fc2b6..4d2fc89 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ All notable changes to the Docker Language Server will be documented in this fil
     - stop volume named references from causing volume attributes to not be suggested ([#309](https://github.com/docker/docker-language-server/issues/309))
   - textDocument/documentLink
     - ensure the image attribute is valid before trying to process it for document links ([#306](https://github.com/docker/docker-language-server/issues/306))
+- Bake
+  - textDocument/definition
+    - fix nil pointers when navigating around a top level attribute that is not in any block ([#311](https://github.com/docker/docker-language-server/issues/311))
 
 ## [0.10.2] - 2025-06-06
 
diff --git a/internal/bake/hcl/definition.go b/internal/bake/hcl/definition.go
index af6003f..e6c61b6 100644
--- a/internal/bake/hcl/definition.go
+++ b/internal/bake/hcl/definition.go
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ func ResolveAttributeValue(ctx context.Context, definitionLinkSupport bool, mana
 	if tupleConsExpr, ok := attribute.Expr.(*hclsyntax.TupleConsExpr); ok {
 		for _, e := range tupleConsExpr.Exprs {
 			if isInsideRange(e.Range(), position) {
-				if templateExpr, ok := e.(*hclsyntax.TemplateExpr); ok {
+				if templateExpr, ok := e.(*hclsyntax.TemplateExpr); ok && sourceBlock != nil {
 					if templateExpr.IsStringLiteral() {
 						// look up a target reference if it's inside a
 						// target block's inherits attribute, or a
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ func ResolveExpression(ctx context.Context, definitionLinkSupport bool, manager
 
 	if objectConsExpression, ok := expression.(*hclsyntax.ObjectConsExpr); ok {
 		for _, item := range objectConsExpression.Items {
-			if isInsideRange(item.KeyExpr.Range(), position) {
+			if isInsideRange(item.KeyExpr.Range(), position) && sourceBlock != nil {
 				if attributeName == "args" && sourceBlock.Type == "target" {
 					dockerfilePath, err := doc.DockerfileForTarget(sourceBlock)
 					if dockerfilePath == "" || err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/bake/hcl/definition_test.go b/internal/bake/hcl/definition_test.go
index 95e7423..a5ec1aa 100644
--- a/internal/bake/hcl/definition_test.go
+++ b/internal/bake/hcl/definition_test.go
@@ -982,6 +982,99 @@ func TestDefinition(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name:         "attribute whitespace should resolve to nothing",
+			content:      "a1  = \"value\"",
+			line:         0,
+			character:    3,
+			endCharacter: -1,
+			locations:    nil,
+			links:        nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "attribute array string value",
+			content:      "a1 = [\"value\"]",
+			line:         0,
+			character:    10,
+			endCharacter: -1,
+			locations:    nil,
+			links:        nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "attribute array string has a templated variable",
+			content:      "a1 = \"\"\na2 = [\"${a1}\"]",
+			line:         1,
+			character:    10,
+			endCharacter: -1,
+			locations: []protocol.Location{
+				{
+					URI: bakeFileURI,
+					Range: protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 0},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 2},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			links: []protocol.LocationLink{
+				{
+					OriginSelectionRange: &protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 1, Character: 9},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 1, Character: 11},
+					},
+					TargetURI: bakeFileURI,
+					TargetRange: protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 0},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 2},
+					},
+					TargetSelectionRange: protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 0},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 2},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "attribute object value's attribute name",
+			content:      "args = { var = value }",
+			line:         0,
+			character:    11,
+			endCharacter: -1,
+			locations:    nil,
+			links:        nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "attribute object value's attribute name",
+			content:      "a1 = \"\"\nargs = { var = a1 }",
+			line:         1,
+			character:    16,
+			endCharacter: -1,
+			locations: []protocol.Location{
+				{
+					URI: bakeFileURI,
+					Range: protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 0},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 2},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			links: []protocol.LocationLink{
+				{
+					OriginSelectionRange: &protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 1, Character: 15},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 1, Character: 17},
+					},
+					TargetURI: bakeFileURI,
+					TargetRange: protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 0},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 2},
+					},
+					TargetSelectionRange: protocol.Range{
+						Start: protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 0},
+						End:   protocol.Position{Line: 0, Character: 2},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name:         "variable referenced in for loop conditional",
 			content:      "variable num { default = 3 }\nvariable varList { default = [\"tag\"] }\ntarget default {\n  tags = [for var in varList : upper(var) if num > 2]\n}",