diff --git a/src/ng/rootScope.js b/src/ng/rootScope.js
index 6648655133f1..0d9e9078f032 100644
--- a/src/ng/rootScope.js
+++ b/src/ng/rootScope.js
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ function $RootScopeProvider(){
                   watch = watchers[length];
                   // Most common watches are on primitives, in which case we can short
                   // circuit it with === operator, only when === fails do we use .equals
-                  if ((value = watch.get(current)) !== (last = watch.last) &&
+                  if (watch && (value = watch.get(current)) !== (last = watch.last) &&
                       !(watch.eq
                           ? equals(value, last)
                           : (typeof value == 'number' && typeof last == 'number'