diff --git a/common/api/lib/crash-reporter.coffee b/common/api/lib/crash-reporter.coffee
index 09a23dbeb4e..cf198712330 100644
--- a/common/api/lib/crash-reporter.coffee
+++ b/common/api/lib/crash-reporter.coffee
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 binding = process.atomBinding 'crash_reporter'
 
 class CrashReporter
-  start: (options) ->
+  start: (options={}) ->
     {productName, companyName, submitUrl, autoSubmit, ignoreSystemCrashHandler} = options
 
     productName ?= 'Atom-Shell'