diff --git a/content/blog/2018-05-23-react-v-16-4.md b/content/blog/2018-05-23-react-v-16-4.md
index f65d58bd1..b6bb52387 100644
--- a/content/blog/2018-05-23-react-v-16-4.md
+++ b/content/blog/2018-05-23-react-v-16-4.md
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ One possible way to fix this is to compare the incoming value to the previous va
 
 ```js
 static getDerivedStateFromProps(props, state) {
-  const prevProps = state.prevProps;
+  const prevProps = state.prevProps || {};
   // Compare the incoming prop to previous prop
   const controlledValue =
     prevProps.value !== props.value