diff --git a/lib/http-api.js b/lib/http-api.js
index 1951790e3..a3ab93cfa 100644
--- a/lib/http-api.js
+++ b/lib/http-api.js
@@ -501,6 +501,7 @@ var requestCallback = function(defer, userDefinedCallback, onlyData) {
  * @prop {integer} httpStatus The numeric HTTP status code given
  */
 module.exports.MatrixError = function MatrixError(errorJson) {
+    errorJson = errorJson || {};
     this.errcode = errorJson.errcode;
     this.name = errorJson.errcode || "Unknown error code";
     this.message = errorJson.error || "Unknown message";