diff --git a/lib/session.js b/lib/session.js
index 6df539254e..f90a9282f7 100644
--- a/lib/session.js
+++ b/lib/session.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // core dependencies
 const path = require('path')
+const fs = require('fs')
 
 // npm dependencies
 const session = require('express-session')
@@ -84,14 +85,12 @@ function storeData (input, data) {
 
 // Get session default data from file
 
-let sessionDataDefaults
+let sessionDataDefaults = {}
 
 const sessionDataDefaultsFile = path.join(projectDir, 'app', 'data', 'session-data-defaults.js')
 
-try {
+if (fs.existsSync(sessionDataDefaultsFile)) {
   sessionDataDefaults = require(sessionDataDefaultsFile)
-} catch (e) {
-  sessionDataDefaults = {}
 }
 // Middleware - store any data sent in session, and pass it to all views