diff --git a/dist/hyperagent.js b/dist/hyperagent.js
index 2d1c170..d1e8824 100644
--- a/dist/hyperagent.js
+++ b/dist/hyperagent.js
@@ -279,8 +279,8 @@ define("hyperagent/properties",
       // one large object for defineProperties first and call on that in the end
       // and if that would make the code cleaner.
       options = options || {};
-      if (Object(response) !== response) {
-        throw new Error('The Properties argument must be an object.');
+      if (!response) {
+        response = {};
       }
       // Overwrite the response object with the original properties if provided.
       config._.defaults(response, options.original || {});
@@ -688,4 +688,4 @@ define("hyperagent/resource",
     __exports__.LinkResource = LinkResource;
   });
 window.Hyperagent = requireModule('hyperagent');
-}());
\ No newline at end of file
+}());
diff --git a/lib/hyperagent/properties.js b/lib/hyperagent/properties.js
index 78bb0a2..92b027c 100644
--- a/lib/hyperagent/properties.js
+++ b/lib/hyperagent/properties.js
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ export function Properties(response, options) {
   // one large object for defineProperties first and call on that in the end
   // and if that would make the code cleaner.
   options = options || {};
-  if (Object(response) !== response) {
-    throw new Error('The Properties argument must be an object.');
+  if (!response) {
+    response = {};
   }
   // Overwrite the response object with the original properties if provided.
   config._.defaults(response, options.original || {});