diff --git a/app/models/incoming_link.rb b/app/models/incoming_link.rb
index c9656f0ac..1d0cc48ae 100644
--- a/app/models/incoming_link.rb
+++ b/app/models/incoming_link.rb
@@ -18,8 +18,12 @@ class IncomingLink < ActiveRecord::Base
     end
 
     if request.referer.present?
-      host = URI.parse(request.referer).host
-      referer = request.referer[0..999]
+      begin
+        host = URI.parse(request.referer).host
+        referer = request.referer[0..999]
+      rescue URI::InvalidURIError
+        # bad uri, skip
+      end
     end
 
     if host != request.host && (user_id || referer)
diff --git a/spec/models/incoming_link_spec.rb b/spec/models/incoming_link_spec.rb
index a6cf4c6b3..0e672949b 100644
--- a/spec/models/incoming_link_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/incoming_link_spec.rb
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ describe IncomingLink do
       IncomingLink.add(req('http://somesite.com', 'http://somesite.com'))
     end
 
+    it "tracks visits for invalid referers" do
+      IncomingLink.add(req('http://somesite.com', 'bang bang bang'))
+      # no current user, don't track
+      IncomingLink.count.should == 0
+    end
+
     it "expects to be called with referer and user id" do
       IncomingLink.expects(:create).once.returns(true)
       IncomingLink.add(req('http://somesite.com', 'http://some.other.site.com'), build(:user))