diff --git a/packages/github/__tests__/invalid-payload.json b/packages/github/__tests__/invalid-payload.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..98232c64fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/github/__tests__/invalid-payload.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{
diff --git a/packages/github/__tests__/lib.test.ts b/packages/github/__tests__/lib.test.ts
index e77e79c627..6ce8e624ac 100644
--- a/packages/github/__tests__/lib.test.ts
+++ b/packages/github/__tests__/lib.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import * as path from 'path'
 import {readFileSync} from 'fs'
+import {EOL} from 'os'
 import {Context} from '../src/context.js'
 
 describe('@actions/context', () => {
@@ -25,6 +26,21 @@ describe('@actions/context', () => {
     expect(context.payload).toEqual({})
   })
 
+  it('returns an empty payload when the event payload is invalid JSON', () => {
+    process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH = path.join(__dirname, 'invalid-payload.json')
+    const write = jest
+      .spyOn(process.stdout, 'write')
+      .mockImplementation(() => true)
+
+    context = new Context()
+
+    expect(context.payload).toEqual({})
+    expect(write).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      `GITHUB_EVENT_PATH ${process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH} contains invalid JSON${EOL}`
+    )
+    write.mockRestore()
+  })
+
   it('returns attributes from the GITHUB_REPOSITORY', () => {
     expect(context.repo).toEqual({owner: 'actions', repo: 'toolkit'})
   })
diff --git a/packages/github/src/context.ts b/packages/github/src/context.ts
index 60554fd322..4822960b5e 100644
--- a/packages/github/src/context.ts
+++ b/packages/github/src/context.ts
@@ -30,9 +30,20 @@ export class Context {
     this.payload = {}
     if (process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH) {
       if (existsSync(process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH)) {
-        this.payload = JSON.parse(
-          readFileSync(process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH, {encoding: 'utf8'})
-        )
+        try {
+          this.payload = JSON.parse(
+            readFileSync(process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH, {encoding: 'utf8'})
+          )
+        } catch (error) {
+          if (error instanceof SyntaxError) {
+            const path = process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH
+            process.stdout.write(
+              `GITHUB_EVENT_PATH ${path} contains invalid JSON${EOL}`
+            )
+          } else {
+            throw error
+          }
+        }
       } else {
         const path = process.env.GITHUB_EVENT_PATH
         process.stdout.write(`GITHUB_EVENT_PATH ${path} does not exist${EOL}`)