diff --git a/lib/marked.js b/lib/marked.js
index 327e648e3d..7a07c8ae1a 100644
--- a/lib/marked.js
+++ b/lib/marked.js
@@ -1043,7 +1043,7 @@ function marked(src, opt, callback) {
       opt = null;
     }
 
-    opt = opt ? merge({}, marked.defaults, opt) : marked.defaults;
+    opt = merge({}, marked.defaults, opt || {});
 
     var highlight = opt.highlight
       , tokens