diff --git a/emmet-builders/emmet/builders/materials/provenance.py b/emmet-builders/emmet/builders/materials/provenance.py
index 2c3226a466..cb2a379740 100644
--- a/emmet-builders/emmet/builders/materials/provenance.py
+++ b/emmet-builders/emmet/builders/materials/provenance.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.provenance = provenance
         self.source_snls = source_snls
         self.settings = EmmetBuildSettings.autoload(settings)
-        self.query = query
+        self.query = query or {}
         self.kwargs = kwargs
 
         materials.key = "material_id"