diff --git a/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js b/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js
index a04d68bc..129e4937 100644
--- a/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js
+++ b/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js
@@ -201,10 +201,9 @@ function _columnStats(ctx, columns) {
             );
             if (columns[name].type === 'string') {
                 const topN = ctx.metaOptions.columnStats.topCategories || 1024;
-                let includeNulls = true;
-                if (ctx.metaOptions.columnStats.hasOwnProperty('includeNulls')) {
-                    includeNulls = ctx.metaOptions.columnStats.includeNulls;
-                }
+                const includeNulls = ctx.metaOptions.columnStats.hasOwnProperty('includeNulls') ?
+                    ctx.metaOptions.columnStats.includeNulls :
+                    true;
 
                 // TODO:  ctx.metaOptions.columnStats.maxCategories
                 //        => use PG stats to dismiss columns with more distinct values