diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-mdx/gatsby/source-nodes.js b/packages/gatsby-plugin-mdx/gatsby/source-nodes.js
index 04971a3f8fdb7..f07aab4f9e640 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-mdx/gatsby/source-nodes.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-mdx/gatsby/source-nodes.js
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ async function getCounts({ mdast }) {
   }
 
   return {
-    paragraphs: counts.ParagraphNode,
-    sentences: counts.SentenceNode,
-    words: counts.WordNode,
+    paragraphs: counts.ParagraphNode || 0,
+    sentences: counts.SentenceNode || 0,
+    words: counts.WordNode || 0,
   }
 }