diff --git a/libs/structs/structaccess/set.go b/libs/structs/structaccess/set.go
index 02752e456ea..99596d27fba 100644
--- a/libs/structs/structaccess/set.go
+++ b/libs/structs/structaccess/set.go
@@ -29,25 +29,139 @@ func Set(target any, path *structpath.PathNode, value any) error {
 		return errors.New("target must be a pointer")
 	}
 
-	// For single-level paths, get the target directly
-	if pathLen == 1 {
-		return setValueAtNode(targetVal.Elem(), path, value)
-	}
+	return setAt(targetVal.Elem(), path.AsSlice(), path.Parent(), value)
+}
 
-	// For multi-level paths, get the parent container
-	parent := path.Parent()
-	if parent == nil {
-		return errors.New("failed to get parent path")
+// setAt sets value at nodes relative to cur, allocating nil maps, pointers and slices on the way.
+// parent is the parent of the final node and is only used in error messages.
+func setAt(cur reflect.Value, nodes []*structpath.PathNode, parent *structpath.PathNode, value any) error {
+	node := nodes[0]
+	cur, err := allocate(cur, node)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if len(nodes) == 1 {
+		return setValueAtNode(cur, node, value)
 	}
 
-	// Get the parent container using getValue, passing the original target
-	parentVal, err := getValue(target, parent)
+	next, writeBack, err := child(cur, node)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to navigate to parent %s: %w", parent.String(), err)
 	}
+	if err := setAt(next, nodes[1:], parent, value); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if writeBack != nil {
+		writeBack()
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// allocate dereferences cur and makes it ready to hold node: nil pointers are allocated,
+// a nil map is made and a nil slice is grown to fit the index.
+func allocate(cur reflect.Value, node *structpath.PathNode) (reflect.Value, error) {
+	for cur.Kind() == reflect.Pointer || cur.Kind() == reflect.Interface {
+		if cur.IsNil() {
+			if cur.Kind() == reflect.Interface || !cur.CanSet() {
+				return cur, nilParentError(node)
+			}
+			cur.Set(reflect.New(cur.Type().Elem()))
+		}
+		cur = cur.Elem()
+	}
 
-	// Set the value at the final node
-	return setValueAtNode(parentVal, path, value)
+	idx, isIndex := node.Index()
+	if isIndex && cur.Kind() == reflect.Struct {
+		if embed := findEmbedField(cur); embed.IsValid() {
+			cur = embed
+		}
+	}
+
+	var alloc reflect.Value
+	switch {
+	case cur.Kind() == reflect.Map && cur.IsNil():
+		alloc = reflect.MakeMap(cur.Type())
+	case isIndex && idx >= 0 && cur.Kind() == reflect.Slice && cur.IsNil():
+		alloc = reflect.MakeSlice(cur.Type(), idx+1, idx+1)
+	default:
+		return cur, nil
+	}
+	if !cur.CanSet() {
+		return cur, nilParentError(node)
+	}
+	cur.Set(alloc)
+	return cur, nil
+}
+
+// child returns the addressable value selected by node in cur, which allocate has prepared.
+// Map values are not addressable, so for maps it returns a copy and a function that stores it back.
+func child(cur reflect.Value, node *structpath.PathNode) (reflect.Value, func(), error) {
+	if idx, isIndex := node.Index(); isIndex {
+		switch cur.Kind() {
+		case reflect.Slice, reflect.Array:
+			if idx < 0 || idx >= cur.Len() {
+				return reflect.Value{}, nil, &NotFoundError{fmt.Sprintf("%s: index out of range, length is %d", node.String(), cur.Len())}
+			}
+			return cur.Index(idx), nil, nil
+		case reflect.Struct:
+			// Terraform represents single-block fields as lists and uses [0] to access them.
+			if idx == 0 {
+				return cur, nil, nil
+			}
+		default:
+		}
+		return reflect.Value{}, nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: cannot index %s", node.String(), cur.Kind())
+	}
+
+	if key, value, ok := node.KeyValue(); ok {
+		if cur.Kind() == reflect.Struct {
+			if embed := findEmbedField(cur); embed.IsValid() {
+				cur = embed
+			}
+		}
+		nv, err := accessKeyValue(cur, key, value, node)
+		return nv, nil, err
+	}
+
+	key, ok := node.StringKey()
+	if !ok {
+		return reflect.Value{}, nil, errors.New("unsupported path node type")
+	}
+
+	switch cur.Kind() {
+	case reflect.Struct:
+		fv, _, _, ok := findStructFieldByKey(cur, key)
+		if !ok {
+			return reflect.Value{}, nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: field %q not found in %s", node.String(), key, cur.Type())
+		}
+		return fv, nil, nil
+	case reflect.Map:
+		mk, err := mapKey(cur, key)
+		if err != nil {
+			return reflect.Value{}, nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", node.String(), err)
+		}
+		elem := reflect.New(cur.Type().Elem()).Elem()
+		if existing := cur.MapIndex(mk); existing.IsValid() {
+			elem.Set(existing)
+		}
+		return elem, func() { cur.SetMapIndex(mk, elem) }, nil
+	default:
+		return reflect.Value{}, nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: cannot access key %q on %s", node.String(), key, cur.Kind())
+	}
+}
+
+// mapKey converts key to the key type of the map m, which must be a string type.
+func mapKey(m reflect.Value, key string) (reflect.Value, error) {
+	kt := m.Type().Key()
+	if kt.Kind() != reflect.String {
+		return reflect.Value{}, fmt.Errorf("map key must be string, got %s", kt)
+	}
+	return reflect.ValueOf(key).Convert(kt), nil
+}
+
+// nilParentError reports that the parent of node is nil and cannot be allocated.
+func nilParentError(node *structpath.PathNode) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf("cannot set %s: parent %s is nil", node.String(), node.Parent().String())
 }
 
 // SetByString sets the value at the given path string inside the target object.
@@ -74,7 +188,6 @@ func setValueAtNode(parentVal reflect.Value, node *structpath.PathNode, value an
 		}
 		parentVal = parentVal.Elem()
 	}
-
 	valueVal := reflect.ValueOf(value)
 
 	if idx, isIndex := node.Index(); isIndex {
@@ -162,14 +275,9 @@ func setStructField(parentVal reflect.Value, fieldName string, valueVal reflect.
 
 // setMapValue sets a value in a map
 func setMapValue(parentVal reflect.Value, key string, valueVal reflect.Value) error {
-	kt := parentVal.Type().Key()
-	if kt.Kind() != reflect.String {
-		return fmt.Errorf("map key must be string, got %s", kt)
-	}
-
-	mk := reflect.ValueOf(key)
-	if kt != mk.Type() {
-		mk = mk.Convert(kt)
+	mk, err := mapKey(parentVal, key)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	// For maps, we need to handle the value type
diff --git a/libs/structs/structaccess/set_test.go b/libs/structs/structaccess/set_test.go
index 0d55b9881f8..a8138004dbc 100644
--- a/libs/structs/structaccess/set_test.go
+++ b/libs/structs/structaccess/set_test.go
@@ -910,3 +910,73 @@ func TestGetSet_DashIsAFieldNameWhenTheTagHasOptions(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "set", target.Named, "Set must write to Named")
 	assert.Equal(t, "s", target.Skipped, "json:\"-\" field must stay out of reach")
 }
+
+func TestSet_AllocatesNilParents(t *testing.T) {
+	type Leaf struct {
+		N int `json:"n,omitempty"`
+	}
+	type Mid struct {
+		C  *Leaf           `json:"c,omitempty"`
+		LM map[string]Leaf `json:"lm,omitempty"`
+	}
+	type T struct {
+		M  map[string]string            `json:"m,omitempty"`
+		P  *Leaf                        `json:"p,omitempty"`
+		A  *Mid                         `json:"a,omitempty"`
+		S  []string                     `json:"s,omitempty"`
+		SL []Leaf                       `json:"sl,omitempty"`
+		NM map[string]string            `json:"nm"`
+		NP *Leaf                        `json:"np"`
+		MM map[string]map[string]string `json:"mm,omitempty"`
+	}
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		path     string
+		value    any
+		expected T
+	}{
+		{"m.k", "x", T{M: map[string]string{"k": "x"}}},
+		{"nm.k", "x", T{NM: map[string]string{"k": "x"}}},
+		{"p.n", 5, T{P: &Leaf{N: 5}}},
+		{"np.n", 5, T{NP: &Leaf{N: 5}}},
+		{"a.c.n", 5, T{A: &Mid{C: &Leaf{N: 5}}}},
+		{"a.lm.k.n", 5, T{A: &Mid{LM: map[string]Leaf{"k": {N: 5}}}}},
+		{"mm.a.b", "x", T{MM: map[string]map[string]string{"a": {"b": "x"}}}},
+		{"s[0]", "x", T{S: []string{"x"}}},
+		{"s[2]", "x", T{S: []string{"", "", "x"}}},
+		{"sl[0].n", 5, T{SL: []Leaf{{N: 5}}}},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.path, func(t *testing.T) {
+			target := &T{}
+			require.NoError(t, structaccess.SetByString(target, tt.path, tt.value))
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, *target)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSet_NilParentNotAllocatable(t *testing.T) {
+	type T struct {
+		I any `json:"i,omitempty"`
+	}
+	err := structaccess.SetByString(&T{}, "i.k", "x")
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, "cannot set i.k: parent i is nil")
+}
+
+func TestSet_AllocationWithExistingParents(t *testing.T) {
+	type T struct {
+		M  map[string]map[string]string `json:"m,omitempty"`
+		SL []map[string]string          `json:"sl,omitempty"`
+	}
+	target := &T{M: map[string]map[string]string{"a": {"b": "1"}}, SL: []map[string]string{nil}}
+	require.NoError(t, structaccess.SetByString(target, "m.a.c", "2"))
+	require.NoError(t, structaccess.SetByString(target, "sl[0].k", "3"))
+	assert.Equal(t, T{
+		M:  map[string]map[string]string{"a": {"b": "1", "c": "2"}},
+		SL: []map[string]string{{"k": "3"}},
+	}, *target)
+
+	err := structaccess.SetByString(target, "sl[1].k", "3")
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, "failed to navigate to parent sl[1]: sl[1]: index out of range, length is 1") //nolint:dupword
+}