diff --git a/lib/router/router.js b/lib/router/router.js
index 5193be435b81..7529ee51f040 100644
--- a/lib/router/router.js
+++ b/lib/router/router.js
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ export default class Router {
   }
 
   urlIsNew (pathname, query) {
-    return this.pathname !== pathname || !shallowEquals(query, this.query)
+    return this.pathname !== pathname || !shallowEquals(query || {}, this.query || {})
   }
 
   isShallowRoutingPossible (route) {
diff --git a/test/unit/router.test.js b/test/unit/router.test.js
index e9865d83e160..991323b32d9b 100644
--- a/test/unit/router.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/router.test.js
@@ -63,4 +63,14 @@ describe('Router', () => {
       expect(Object.keys(pageLoader.loaded)).toEqual(routes)
     })
   })
+
+  describe('.urlIsNew()', () => {
+    it('should handle undefined starting query parameters', () => {
+      const pageLoader = new PageLoader()
+      const router = new Router('/', undefined, '/', { pageLoader })
+      // This function will call shallowEqual with the query below and the undefined value set in
+      // the constructor.
+      router.urlIsNew('/', { queryVariable: '1' })
+    })
+  })
 })