diff --git a/helper/geojsonify.js b/helper/geojsonify.js
index fc22b06d..ec1e20f6 100644
--- a/helper/geojsonify.js
+++ b/helper/geojsonify.js
@@ -61,9 +61,14 @@ function search( docs, params ){
   // convert to geojson
   var geojson = GeoJSON.parse( geodata, { Point: ['lat', 'lng'] });
 
-  // add bbox
+  // bounding box calculations
+  // @note: extent() sometimes throws Errors for unusual data
+  // eg: https://github.com/pelias/pelias/issues/84
   try {
-    geojson.bbox = extent( geojson ) || undefined;
+    var bbox = extent( geojson );
+    if( !!bbox ){
+      geojson.bbox = bbox;
+    }
   } catch( e ){
     console.error( 'bbox error', e.message, e.stack );
     console.error( 'geojson', JSON.stringify( geojson, null, 2 ) );