diff --git a/lib/interfaces/common.js b/lib/interfaces/common.js
index 6505e05a76..f0cdd4eb1a 100644
--- a/lib/interfaces/common.js
+++ b/lib/interfaces/common.js
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ module.exports = function (suites, context, mocha) {
           suites.shift();
         } else if (typeof opts.fn === 'undefined' && !suite.pending) {
           throw new Error('Suite "' + suite.fullTitle() + '" was defined but no callback was supplied. Supply a callback or explicitly skip the suite.');
+        } else if (!opts.fn && suite.pending) {
+          suites.shift();
         }
 
         return suite;
diff --git a/test/integration/fixtures/pending/skip-hierarchy.fixture.js b/test/integration/fixtures/pending/skip-hierarchy.fixture.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46500098b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/fixtures/pending/skip-hierarchy.fixture.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+'use strict';
+
+describe('a suite', function(){
+  describe.skip('skipped suite 1');
+  describe.skip('skipped suite 2');
+  describe('another suite', function(){
+    it('a test', function(){})
+  })
+});
diff --git a/test/integration/pending.spec.js b/test/integration/pending.spec.js
index 30cf61ceb2..af665accf6 100644
--- a/test/integration/pending.spec.js
+++ b/test/integration/pending.spec.js
@@ -32,6 +32,21 @@ describe('pending', function () {
         done();
       });
     });
+    it('should keep hierarchies of suites', function (done) {
+      run('pending/skip-hierarchy.fixture.js', args, function (err, res) {
+        if (err) {
+          done(err);
+          return;
+        }
+        assert.equal(res.stats.suites, 2);
+        assert.equal(res.stats.pending, 0);
+        assert.equal(res.stats.passes, 1);
+        assert.equal(res.stats.failures, 0);
+        assert.equal(res.code, 0);
+        assert.equal(res.passes[0].fullTitle, 'a suite another suite a test');
+        done();
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   describe('synchronous skip()', function () {