diff --git a/lib/model.js b/lib/model.js
index ba085f94a6b1..a3651369d4ee 100644
--- a/lib/model.js
+++ b/lib/model.js
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class Model {
     this._previousDataValues = {};
     this.uniqno = 1;
     this._changed = new Set();
-    this._options = options || {};
+    this._options = options;
 
     /**
      * Returns true if this instance has not yet been persisted to the database