diff --git a/lib/zlib.js b/lib/zlib.js
index a10d9118d6194e..197595f3cceafd 100644
--- a/lib/zlib.js
+++ b/lib/zlib.js
@@ -209,7 +209,8 @@ function zlibBuffer(engine, buffer, callback) {
   function onError(err) {
     engine.removeListener('end', onEnd);
     engine.removeListener('readable', flow);
-    callback(err);
+    if (typeof callback === 'function')
+      callback(err);
   }
 
   function onEnd() {
@@ -224,7 +225,8 @@ function zlibBuffer(engine, buffer, callback) {
 
     buffers = [];
     engine.close();
-    callback(err, buf);
+    if (typeof callback === 'function')
+      callback(err, buf);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-zlib-function-only-callbacks.js b/test/parallel/test-zlib-function-only-callbacks.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..586382e0119821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-zlib-function-only-callbacks.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+'use strict';
+var common = require('../common');
+var assert = require('assert');
+var zlib = require('zlib');
+
+// test callback in `onEnd`
+zlib.deflate('abc', {}, 'not a function');
+// test callback in `onError`
+zlib.deflate({}, {}, 'not a function');