diff --git a/src/subParsers/codeSpans.js b/src/subParsers/codeSpans.js
index 0abb69a..dbd85e0 100644
--- a/src/subParsers/codeSpans.js
+++ b/src/subParsers/codeSpans.js
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ showdown.subParser('codeSpans', function (text, options, globals) {
    (?!`)
    /gm, function(){...});
    */
+
+  if (typeof(text) === 'undefined') {
+    text = '';
+  }
   text = text.replace(/(^|[^\\])(`+)([^\r]*?[^`])\2(?!`)/gm,
     function (wholeMatch, m1, m2, m3) {
       var c = m3;
diff --git a/test/features/tables/table-without-leading-pipe.html b/test/features/tables/table-without-leading-pipe.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b5dd2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/features/tables/table-without-leading-pipe.html
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+
+<h3 id="stats">Stats</h3>
+
+<table>
+<thead>
+<tr>
+<th>Status</th>
+<th>AGENT1</th>
+<th>AGENT2</th>
+<th>AGENT3</th>
+<th>AGENT4</th>
+<th>AGENT5</th>
+<th>AGENT6</th>
+<th>AGENT7</th>
+<th>AGENT8</th>
+<th>AGENT9</th>
+<th>TOTAL</th>
+</tr>
+</thead>
+<tbody>
+<tr>
+<td>AGENT ERROR</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>APPROVED</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td>0</td>
+<td></td>
+</tr>
+</tbody>
+</table>
diff --git a/test/features/tables/table-without-leading-pipe.md b/test/features/tables/table-without-leading-pipe.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c642428
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/features/tables/table-without-leading-pipe.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+
+### Stats
+
+
+Status | AGENT1 | AGENT2 | AGENT3 | AGENT4 | AGENT5 | AGENT6 | AGENT7 | AGENT8 | AGENT9 | TOTAL |
+--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
+AGENT ERROR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
+APPROVED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |