diff --git a/lib/acl-checker.js b/lib/acl-checker.js
index 577c0ef42..00a56aeae 100644
--- a/lib/acl-checker.js
+++ b/lib/acl-checker.js
@@ -28,7 +28,14 @@ class ACLChecker {
   constructor (resource, options = {}) {
     this.resource = resource
     this.resourceUrl = new URL(resource)
-    this.agentOrigin = options.strictOrigin && options.agentOrigin ? rdf.sym(options.agentOrigin) : null
+    this.agentOrigin = null
+    try {
+      if (options.strictOrigin && options.agentOrigin) {
+        this.agentOrigin = rdf.sym(options.agentOrigin)
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      // noop
+    }
     this.fetch = options.fetch
     this.fetchGraph = options.fetchGraph
     this.trustedOrigins = options.strictOrigin && options.trustedOrigins ? options.trustedOrigins.map(trustedOrigin => rdf.sym(trustedOrigin)) : null