diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 029a19e..881614b 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -19,8 +19,17 @@ const assertPatternsInput = patterns => {
 };
 
 const checkCwdOption = options => {
-	if (options && options.cwd && !fs.statSync(options.cwd).isDirectory()) {
-		throw new Error('The `cwd` option must be a path to a directory');
+	if (options && options.cwd) {
+		let stat;
+		try {
+			stat = fs.statSync(options.cwd);
+		} catch (_) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		if (!stat.isDirectory()) {
+			throw new Error('The `cwd` option must be a path to a directory');
+		}
 	}
 };
 
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index ffe776b..165d46a 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -362,3 +362,13 @@ test('throws when specifying a file as cwd - stream', t => {
 		globby.stream('*', {cwd: isFile});
 	}, 'The `cwd` option must be a path to a directory');
 });
+
+test('don\'t throw when specifying a non-existing cwd directory - async', async t => {
+	const actual = await globby('.', {cwd: '/unknown'});
+	t.is(actual.length, 0);
+});
+
+test('don\'t throw when specifying a non-existing cwd directory - sync', t => {
+	const actual = globby.sync('.', {cwd: '/unknown'});
+	t.is(actual.length, 0);
+});