diff --git a/docs/content/error/linky/notstring.ngdoc b/docs/content/error/linky/notstring.ngdoc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..159ac42de123
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/content/error/linky/notstring.ngdoc
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+@ngdoc error
+@name linky:notstring
+@fullName Not a string
+@description
+
+This error occurs when {@link ngSanitize.linky linky} is used with a non-empty, non-string value:
+```html
+<div ng-bind-html="42 | linky"></div>
+```
+
+`linky` is supposed to be used with string values only, and therefore assumes that several methods
+(such as `.match()`) are available on the passed in value.
+The value can be initialized asynchronously and therefore null or undefined won't throw this error.
+
+If you want to pass non-string values to `linky` (e.g. Objects whose `.toString()` should be
+utilized), you need to manually convert them to strings.
diff --git a/src/ngSanitize/filter/linky.js b/src/ngSanitize/filter/linky.js
index 2780d74c0b33..495dd80af7ab 100644
--- a/src/ngSanitize/filter/linky.js
+++ b/src/ngSanitize/filter/linky.js
@@ -134,8 +134,13 @@ angular.module('ngSanitize').filter('linky', ['$sanitize', function($sanitize) {
         /((ftp|https?):\/\/|(www\.)|(mailto:)?[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@)\S*[^\s.;,(){}<>"\u201d\u2019]/i,
       MAILTO_REGEXP = /^mailto:/i;
 
+  var linkyMinErr = angular.$$minErr('linky');
+  var isString = angular.isString;
+
   return function(text, target, attributes) {
-    if (!text) return text;
+    if (text == null || text === '') return text;
+    if (!isString(text)) throw linkyMinErr('notstring', 'Expected string but received: {0}', text);
+
     var match;
     var raw = text;
     var html = [];
diff --git a/test/ngSanitize/filter/linkySpec.js b/test/ngSanitize/filter/linkySpec.js
index a3dafb18ddce..5077ae9bf406 100644
--- a/test/ngSanitize/filter/linkySpec.js
+++ b/test/ngSanitize/filter/linkySpec.js
@@ -20,6 +20,37 @@ describe('linky', function() {
     expect(linky(undefined)).not.toBeDefined();
   });
 
+  it('should return `undefined`/`null`/`""` values unchanged', function() {
+    expect(linky(undefined)).toBe(undefined);
+    expect(linky(null)).toBe(null);
+    expect(linky('')).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('should throw an error when used with a non-string value (other than `undefined`/`null`)',
+    function() {
+      expect(function() { linky(false); }).
+        toThrowMinErr('linky', 'notstring', 'Expected string but received: false');
+
+      expect(function() { linky(true); }).
+        toThrowMinErr('linky', 'notstring', 'Expected string but received: true');
+
+      expect(function() { linky(0); }).
+        toThrowMinErr('linky', 'notstring', 'Expected string but received: 0');
+
+      expect(function() { linky(42); }).
+        toThrowMinErr('linky', 'notstring', 'Expected string but received: 42');
+
+      expect(function() { linky({}); }).
+        toThrowMinErr('linky', 'notstring', 'Expected string but received: {}');
+
+      expect(function() { linky([]); }).
+        toThrowMinErr('linky', 'notstring', 'Expected string but received: []');
+
+      expect(function() { linky(noop); }).
+        toThrowMinErr('linky', 'notstring', 'Expected string but received: function noop()');
+    }
+  );
+
   it('should be case-insensitive', function() {
     expect(linky('WWW.example.com')).toEqual('<a href="http://WWW.example.com">WWW.example.com</a>');
     expect(linky('WWW.EXAMPLE.COM')).toEqual('<a href="http://WWW.EXAMPLE.COM">WWW.EXAMPLE.COM</a>');