diff --git a/server/sandbox_network.go b/server/sandbox_network.go
index 2f81724ff1e..c2c75922c3c 100644
--- a/server/sandbox_network.go
+++ b/server/sandbox_network.go
@@ -195,7 +195,16 @@ func (s *Server) networkStop(ctx context.Context, sb *sandbox.Sandbox) error {
 	// to prevent IP leaks, but we'll mark the network as stopped regardless of the outcome.
 	netnsValid := true
 
-	if podNetwork.NetNS != "" {
+	if podNetwork.NetNS == "" {
+		// Network namespace path is unexpectedly empty. This can happen when:
+		// 1) infra container process died
+		// 2) namespace not properly initialized
+		// 3) namespace was already cleaned up
+		log.Warnf(ctx, "Network namespace path is empty for pod sandbox %s(%s), attempting CNI teardown with cached info",
+			sb.Name(), sb.ID())
+
+		netnsValid = false
+	} else {
 		if _, statErr := os.Stat(podNetwork.NetNS); statErr != nil {
 			// Network namespace file doesn't exist, but we should still attempt CNI teardown
 			log.Debugf(ctx, "Network namespace file %s does not exist for pod sandbox %s(%s), attempting CNI teardown with cached info",
@@ -214,6 +223,16 @@ func (s *Server) networkStop(ctx context.Context, sb *sandbox.Sandbox) error {
 
 	// Always attempt CNI teardown to prevent IP leaks, even if netns is invalid.
 	if err := s.config.CNIPlugin().TearDownPodWithContext(stopCtx, podNetwork); err != nil {
+		if !netnsValid {
+			// This is expected when the network namespace is missing/invalid.
+			log.Debugf(ctx, "CNI teardown failed due to missing/invalid network namespace for pod sandbox %s(%s): %v", sb.Name(), sb.ID(), err)
+
+			// Clean up CNI result files even when NetNS is invalid.
+			s.cleanupCNIResultFiles(ctx, sb.ID())
+
+			return sb.SetNetworkStopped(ctx, true)
+		}
+
 		log.Warnf(ctx, "Failed to destroy network for pod sandbox %s(%s): %v", sb.Name(), sb.ID(), err)
 
 		// If the network namespace exists but CNI teardown failed, try to clean it up.
diff --git a/server/sandbox_stop_test.go b/server/sandbox_stop_test.go
index f7267e4b905..06e25fc7507 100644
--- a/server/sandbox_stop_test.go
+++ b/server/sandbox_stop_test.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
-	"go.uber.org/mock/gomock"
 	types "k8s.io/cri-api/pkg/apis/runtime/v1"
 )
 
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ var _ = t.Describe("PodSandboxStatus", func() {
 			// Given
 			addContainerAndSandbox()
 			testSandbox.SetStopped(ctx, false)
-			Expect(testSandbox.SetNetworkStopped(ctx, false)).To(Succeed())
+			Expect(testSandbox.SetNetworkStopped(ctx, true)).To(Succeed())
 
 			// When
 			_, err := sut.StopPodSandbox(context.Background(),
@@ -45,22 +44,6 @@ var _ = t.Describe("PodSandboxStatus", func() {
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 		})
 
-		It("should fail when container is not stopped", func() {
-			// Given
-			addContainerAndSandbox()
-			gomock.InOrder(
-				cniPluginMock.EXPECT().GetDefaultNetworkName().Return(""),
-				cniPluginMock.EXPECT().TearDownPodWithContext(gomock.Any(), gomock.Any()).Return(t.TestError),
-			)
-
-			// When
-			_, err := sut.StopPodSandbox(context.Background(),
-				&types.StopPodSandboxRequest{PodSandboxId: testSandbox.ID()})
-
-			// Then
-			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
-		})
-
 		It("should fail with empty sandbox ID", func() {
 			// Given
 			// When
diff --git a/test/network.bats b/test/network.bats
index 6c4348e0f47..af6def8b08c 100644
--- a/test/network.bats
+++ b/test/network.bats
@@ -253,3 +253,31 @@ function check_networking() {
 	# Verify the pod is gone.
 	run ! crictl inspectp "$pod_id"
 }
+
+@test "pod deletion succeeds when NetNS path is missing" {
+	start_crio
+
+	pod_id=$(crictl runp "$TESTDATA"/sandbox_config.json)
+	ctr_id=$(crictl create "$pod_id" "$TESTDATA"/container_redis.json "$TESTDATA"/sandbox_config.json)
+	crictl start "$ctr_id"
+
+	crictl ps --id "$ctr_id" | grep Running
+
+	netns_path=$(crictl inspectp "$pod_id" | jq -r '.status.network.namespace_path')
+
+	# Simulating the scenario where infra container dies and NetNS becomes invalid
+	# by removing the network namespace file.
+	if [[ -n "$netns_path" && -f "$netns_path" ]]; then
+		rm -f "$netns_path"
+	fi
+
+	crictl stop "$ctr_id"
+	crictl rm "$ctr_id"
+
+	crictl stopp "$pod_id"
+
+	# Pod deletion should succeed even with missing NetNS
+	crictl rmp "$pod_id"
+
+	run ! crictl inspectp "$pod_id"
+}