diff --git a/docs/api/crash-reporter.md b/docs/api/crash-reporter.md
index c03f8a7e0398..8331bc8d43f5 100644
--- a/docs/api/crash-reporter.md
+++ b/docs/api/crash-reporter.md
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@ The `crashReporter` module has the following methods:
 ### `crashReporter.start(options)`
 
 * `options` Object
-  * `submitURL` String - URL that crash reports will be sent to as POST.
+  * `submitURL` String (optional) - URL that crash reports will be sent to as
+    POST. Required unless `uploadToServer` is `false`.
   * `productName` String (optional) - Defaults to `app.name`.
   * `companyName` String (optional) _Deprecated_ - Deprecated alias for
     `{ globalExtra: { _companyName: ... } }`.
diff --git a/lib/browser/api/crash-reporter.ts b/lib/browser/api/crash-reporter.ts
index 99672c690d8b..16a9b1b5cb0f 100644
--- a/lib/browser/api/crash-reporter.ts
+++ b/lib/browser/api/crash-reporter.ts
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ class CrashReporter {
       extra = {},
       globalExtra = {},
       ignoreSystemCrashHandler = false,
-      submitURL,
+      submitURL = '',
       uploadToServer = true,
       rateLimit = false,
       compress = true
     } = options || {};
 
-    if (submitURL == null) throw new Error('submitURL is a required option to crashReporter.start');
+    if (uploadToServer && !submitURL) throw new Error('submitURL must be specified when uploadToServer is true');
 
     if (!compress && uploadToServer) {
       deprecate.log('Sending uncompressed crash reports is deprecated and will be removed in a future version of Electron. Set { compress: true } to opt-in to the new behavior. Crash reports will be uploaded gzipped, which most crash reporting servers support.');
diff --git a/spec-main/api-crash-reporter-spec.ts b/spec-main/api-crash-reporter-spec.ts
index 1136d9a522b6..739d5c09a8d9 100644
--- a/spec-main/api-crash-reporter-spec.ts
+++ b/spec-main/api-crash-reporter-spec.ts
@@ -361,7 +361,13 @@ ifdescribe(!isLinuxOnArm && !process.mas && !process.env.DISABLE_CRASH_REPORTER_
     it('requires that the submitURL option be specified', () => {
       expect(() => {
         crashReporter.start({} as any);
-      }).to.throw('submitURL is a required option to crashReporter.start');
+      }).to.throw('submitURL must be specified when uploadToServer is true');
+    });
+
+    it('allows the submitURL option to be omitted when uploadToServer is false', () => {
+      expect(() => {
+        crashReporter.start({ uploadToServer: false } as any);
+      }).not.to.throw();
     });
 
     it('can be called twice', async () => {