diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index a102f28..9956e3f 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -119,6 +119,11 @@ function requestToFetchOptions(reqOpts: Options) {
 
   let uri = ((reqOpts as OptionsWithUri).uri ||
     (reqOpts as OptionsWithUrl).url) as string;
+
+  if (!uri) {
+    throw new Error('Missing uri or url in reqOpts.');
+  }
+
   if (reqOpts.useQuerystring === true || typeof reqOpts.qs === 'object') {
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
     const qs = require('querystring');
diff --git a/test/index.ts b/test/index.ts
index 4ad9be9..ab398ff 100644
--- a/test/index.ts
+++ b/test/index.ts
@@ -435,4 +435,26 @@ describe('teeny', () => {
       }
     );
   });
+
+  it('should throw an exception if uri is an empty string', done => {
+    assert.throws(
+      () => {
+        teenyRequest({uri: ''});
+      },
+      /Missing uri or url in reqOpts/,
+      'Did not throw with expected message'
+    );
+    done();
+  });
+
+  it('should throw an exception if url is an empty string', done => {
+    assert.throws(
+      () => {
+        teenyRequest({url: ''});
+      },
+      /Missing uri or url in reqOpts/,
+      'Did not throw with expected message'
+    );
+    done();
+  });
 });