diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 5958edc8..cfed4ecd 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ var merge = function merge(target, source, options) {
     if (typeof source !== 'object') {
         if (Array.isArray(target)) {
             target.push(source);
-        } else if (typeof target === 'object') {
+        } else if (target && typeof target === 'object') {
             if ((options && (options.plainObjects || options.allowPrototypes)) || !has.call(Object.prototype, source)) {
                 target[source] = true;
             }
diff --git a/test/utils.js b/test/utils.js
index f255de3f..fcd85a01 100644
--- a/test/utils.js
+++ b/test/utils.js
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ var test = require('tape');
 var utils = require('../lib/utils');
 
 test('merge()', function (t) {
+    t.deepEqual(utils.merge(null, true), [null, true], 'merges true into null');
+
     t.deepEqual(utils.merge({ a: 'b' }, { a: 'c' }), { a: ['b', 'c'] }, 'merges two objects with the same key');
 
     var oneMerged = utils.merge({ foo: 'bar' }, { foo: { first: '123' } });