diff --git a/lib/graphql.js b/lib/graphql.js
index 637dcab8..6e5a016e 100644
--- a/lib/graphql.js
+++ b/lib/graphql.js
@@ -5,24 +5,25 @@ const GraphqlError = require('./error')
 const NON_VARIABLE_OPTIONS = ['method', 'baseUrl', 'url', 'headers', 'request', 'query']
 
 function graphql (request, query, options) {
-  const requestOptions = {
-    variables: {}
-  }
-
   if (typeof query === 'string') {
     options = Object.assign({ query }, options)
   } else {
     options = query
   }
 
-  Object.keys(options).forEach(key => {
+  const requestOptions = Object.keys(options).reduce((result, key) => {
     if (NON_VARIABLE_OPTIONS.includes(key)) {
-      requestOptions[key] = options[key]
-      return
+      result[key] = options[key]
+      return result
+    }
+
+    if (!result.variables) {
+      result.variables = {}
     }
 
-    requestOptions.variables[key] = options[key]
-  })
+    result.variables[key] = options[key]
+    return result
+  }, {})
 
   return request(requestOptions)
     .then(response => {
diff --git a/test/graphql-test.js b/test/graphql-test.js
index 50112a99..fd46b8a0 100644
--- a/test/graphql-test.js
+++ b/test/graphql-test.js
@@ -142,4 +142,23 @@ describe('graphql()', () => {
       repo: 'graphql.js'
     })
   })
+
+  it('Don’t send empty variables object', () => {
+    const query = '{ viewer { login } }'
+
+    mockable.fetch = fetchMock.sandbox()
+      .post('https://api.github.com/graphql', (url, options) => {
+        const body = JSON.parse(options.body)
+        expect(body.query).to.equal(query)
+        expect(body.variables).to.equal(undefined)
+
+        return { data: {} }
+      })
+
+    return graphql(query, {
+      headers: {
+        authorization: `token secret123`
+      }
+    })
+  })
 })