diff --git a/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/browser/Properties.kt b/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/browser/Properties.kt
index 0554c6d04ed..ba02ef8c997 100644
--- a/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/browser/Properties.kt
+++ b/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/browser/Properties.kt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package kotlin.browser
 
-import org.w3c.dom.Document
 import js.native
+import org.w3c.dom.Document
 
 private var _document: Document? = null
 
@@ -9,7 +9,13 @@ private var _document: Document? = null
  * Provides access to the current active browsers DOM for the currently visible page.
  */
 native public var document: Document
- get() = _document!!
- set(value) {
-     _document = value
- }
\ No newline at end of file
+    get() {
+        // Note this code is only executed on the JVM
+        val answer = _document
+        return if (answer == null) {
+            kotlin.dom.createDocument()
+        } else answer
+    }
+    set(value) {
+        _document = value
+    }