diff --git a/src/typeahead/test/typeahead-highlight.spec.js b/src/typeahead/test/typeahead-highlight.spec.js
index edfffea685..955ce6f0df 100644
--- a/src/typeahead/test/typeahead-highlight.spec.js
+++ b/src/typeahead/test/typeahead-highlight.spec.js
@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@ describe('typeaheadHighlight', function () {
     expect(highlightFilter('before match after', 'nomatch')).toEqual('before match after');
   });
 
+  it('should do nothing if no or empty query', function () {
+    expect(highlightFilter('before match after', '')).toEqual('before match after');
+    expect(highlightFilter('before match after', null)).toEqual('before match after');
+    expect(highlightFilter('before match after', undefined)).toEqual('before match after');
+  });
+
   it('issue 316 - should work correctly for regexp reserved words', function () {
     expect(highlightFilter('before (match after', '(match')).toEqual('before <strong>(match</strong> after');
   });
diff --git a/src/typeahead/typeahead.js b/src/typeahead/typeahead.js
index f230862f75..c7f327b9ff 100644
--- a/src/typeahead/typeahead.js
+++ b/src/typeahead/typeahead.js
@@ -313,6 +313,6 @@ angular.module('ui.bootstrap.typeahead', ['ui.bootstrap.position'])
     }
 
     return function(matchItem, query) {
-      return query ? matchItem.replace(new RegExp(escapeRegexp(query), 'gi'), '<strong>$&</strong>') : query;
+      return query ? matchItem.replace(new RegExp(escapeRegexp(query), 'gi'), '<strong>$&</strong>') : matchItem;
     };
   });
\ No newline at end of file