diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js b/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
index b3353976..63cae8fb 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ var linkto = exports.linkto = function(longname, linktext, cssClass) {
     var parsedType;
 
     // handle complex type expressions that may require multiple links
-    if (text.search(/[<{(]/) !== -1) {
+    if (longname && longname.search(/[<{(]/) !== -1) {
         parsedType = parseType(longname);
         return catharsis.stringify(parsedType, {
             cssClass: cssClass,