diff --git a/lms/static/js/spec/student_account/utils_spec.js b/lms/static/js/spec/student_account/utils_spec.js
index 445ddae7f1..03ecbe6fb9 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/spec/student_account/utils_spec.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/spec/student_account/utils_spec.js
@@ -21,5 +21,19 @@ define(['jquery', 'js/student_account/utils'],
                 expect(user).toEqual(userInfo);
             });
         });
+
+        describe('userFromEdxUserCookie', function() {
+            var user;
+
+            beforeEach(function() {
+                $.cookie('edx-user-info', null);
+            });
+
+            it('returns empty user information when cookie is absent', function() {
+                spyOn($, 'cookie').and.returnValue(null);
+                user = Utils.userFromEdxUserCookie();
+                expect(user).toEqual({});
+            });
+        });
     }
 );
diff --git a/lms/static/js/student_account/utils.js b/lms/static/js/student_account/utils.js
index fb539b658c..bdb8ee8361 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/student_account/utils.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/student_account/utils.js
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@
                 cookie = document.cookie.match('(^|;)\\s*' + edxUserCookie + '\\s*=\\s*([^;]+)');
                 userCookie = cookie ? cookie.pop() : $.cookie(edxUserCookie);
 
+                if (!userCookie) {
+                    return {};
+                }
+
                 // returns the user object from cookie. Replaces '054' with ',' and removes '\'
                 user = userCookie.replace(/\\/g, '').replace(/054/g, ',');
                 user = user.substring(1, user.length - 1);