diff --git a/lib/cartodb/models/aggregation/aggregation-query.js b/lib/cartodb/models/aggregation/aggregation-query.js
index bf995c82..f088e6b3 100644
--- a/lib/cartodb/models/aggregation/aggregation-query.js
+++ b/lib/cartodb/models/aggregation/aggregation-query.js
@@ -50,16 +50,11 @@ const SUPPORTED_AGGREGATE_FUNCTIONS = {
 };
 
 const aggregateColumns = ctx => {
-    // TODO: always add count
-    let columns = ctx.columns || {};
-    if (Object.keys(columns).length === 0) {
-        // default aggregation
-        columns = {
-            _cdb_feature_count: {
-                aggregate_function: 'count'
-            }
-        };
-    }
+    let columns = Object.assign({
+        _cdb_feature_count: {
+            aggregate_function: 'count'
+        }
+    }, ctx.columns || {});
     return Object.keys(columns).map(column_name => {
         const aggregate_function = columns[column_name].aggregate_function || 'count';
         const aggregate_definition = SUPPORTED_AGGREGATE_FUNCTIONS[aggregate_function];