diff --git a/History.md b/History.md
index cca851d2e0..631e0e5170 100644
--- a/History.md
+++ b/History.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+unreleased
+==========
+
+  * Revert "Improve error message for `null`/`undefined` to `res.status`"
+
 4.17.0 / 2019-05-16
 ===================
 
diff --git a/lib/response.js b/lib/response.js
index a4f10cbb2e..c9f08cd54f 100644
--- a/lib/response.js
+++ b/lib/response.js
@@ -64,10 +64,6 @@ var charsetRegExp = /;\s*charset\s*=/;
  */
 
 res.status = function status(code) {
-  if (code === undefined || code === null) {
-    throw new TypeError('code argument is required to res.status')
-  }
-
   this.statusCode = code;
   return this;
 };
diff --git a/test/res.status.js b/test/res.status.js
index 3f928ec0b0..8c173a645c 100644
--- a/test/res.status.js
+++ b/test/res.status.js
@@ -16,37 +16,5 @@ describe('res', function(){
       .expect('Created')
       .expect(201, done);
     })
-
-    describe('when code is undefined', function () {
-      it('should throw a TypeError', function (done) {
-        var app = express()
-
-        app.use(function (req, res) {
-          res.status(undefined).send('OK')
-        })
-
-        request(app)
-        .get('/')
-        .expect(500)
-        .expect(/TypeError: code argument is required to res.status/)
-        .end(done)
-      })
-    })
-
-    describe('when code is null', function () {
-      it('should throw a TypeError', function (done) {
-        var app = express()
-
-        app.use(function (req, res) {
-          res.status(null).send('OK')
-        })
-
-        request(app)
-        .get('/')
-        .expect(500)
-        .expect(/TypeError: code argument is required to res.status/)
-        .end(done)
-      })
-    })
   })
 })