diff --git a/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js b/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js
index ef2668e588bc00..1eb4a6f7be7006 100644
--- a/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js
+++ b/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js
@@ -172,6 +172,9 @@ function isStringOrBuffer(val) {
 }
 
 function parseKeyEncoding(enc, keyType, isPublic, objName) {
+  if (enc === null || typeof enc !== 'object')
+    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('options', 'object', enc);
+
   const isInput = keyType === undefined;
 
   const {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js b/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js
index 1ec24e5f6adaa8..a7d7f32cb39f65 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js
@@ -104,6 +104,16 @@ const privatePem = fixtures.readSync('test_rsa_privkey.pem', 'ascii');
   assert.strictEqual(derivedPublicKey.asymmetricKeyType, 'rsa');
   assert.strictEqual(derivedPublicKey.symmetricKeySize, undefined);
 
+  // Test exporting with an invalid options object, this should throw.
+  for (const opt of [undefined, null, 'foo', 0, NaN]) {
+    common.expectsError(() => publicKey.export(opt), {
+      type: TypeError,
+      code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
+      message: 'The "options" argument must be of type object. Received type ' +
+               typeof opt
+    });
+  }
+
   const publicDER = publicKey.export({
     format: 'der',
     type: 'pkcs1'