diff --git a/app/helpers/filters_helper.rb b/app/helpers/filters_helper.rb
index 7d013fb23..b5d661c94 100644
--- a/app/helpers/filters_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/filters_helper.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@ module FiltersHelper
   def selected_option(filter)
     return false unless session[:case_logs_filters]
 
-    JSON.parse(session[:case_logs_filters])[filter]
+    JSON.parse(session[:case_logs_filters])[filter] || ""
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/helpers/filters_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/filters_helper_spec.rb
index 5a24e54f9..d220b79af 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/filters_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/filters_helper_spec.rb
@@ -69,4 +69,16 @@ RSpec.describe FiltersHelper do
       end
     end
   end
+
+  describe "#selected_option" do
+    before do
+      session[:case_logs_filters] = {}.to_json
+    end
+
+    context "when nothing has been selected" do
+      it "returns an empty string" do
+        expect(selected_option("organisation")).to eq("")
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end