diff --git a/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py b/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
index 4e8beec079..327cc3936b 100644
--- a/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
+++ b/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ def extract(dic, keys):
 def merge_dict(dic1, dic2):
     return dict(dic1.items() + dic2.items())
     
-def perform_request(method, url, data_or_params=None, *args, **kwargs):
+def perform_request(method, url, data_or_params={}, *args, **kwargs):
     data_or_params['api_key'] = settings.API_KEY
     if method in ['post', 'put', 'patch']:
         response = requests.request(method, url, data=data_or_params)