diff --git a/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py b/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
index 4e8beec079..f9fde7f3d7 100644
--- a/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
+++ b/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ def merge_dict(dic1, dic2):
     return dict(dic1.items() + dic2.items())
     
 def perform_request(method, url, data_or_params=None, *args, **kwargs):
+    if data_or_params is None:
+        data_or_params = {}
     data_or_params['api_key'] = settings.API_KEY
     if method in ['post', 'put', 'patch']:
         response = requests.request(method, url, data=data_or_params)