diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index d13ab96b2..4d0c748da 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ function wrapRequestMethod (method, options, requester, verb) {
 request.defaults = function (options, requester) {
   var self = this
 
+  options = options || {}
+
   if (typeof options === 'function') {
     requester = options
     options = {}
diff --git a/tests/test-defaults.js b/tests/test-defaults.js
index 265d5d1fb..5b58304cf 100644
--- a/tests/test-defaults.js
+++ b/tests/test-defaults.js
@@ -312,6 +312,14 @@ tape('invoke convenience method from defaults', function(t) {
   })
 })
 
+tape('defaults without options', function(t) {
+  var d = request.defaults()
+  d.get(s.url + '/', {json: true}, function (e, r, b) {
+    t.equal(r.statusCode, 200)
+    t.end()
+  })
+})
+
 tape('cleanup', function(t) {
   s.close(function() {
     t.end()