diff --git a/lighthouse-core/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener.js b/lighthouse-core/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener.js
index a7eb425f680a..c2ede2f2e069 100644
--- a/lighthouse-core/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener.js
+++ b/lighthouse-core/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener.js
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ class ExternalAnchorsUseRelNoopenerAudit extends Audit {
           return true;
         }
       })
+      .filter(anchor => {
+        // Ignore href's that are not real links
+        return !anchor.href || !anchor.href.toLowerCase().startsWith('javascript:');
+      })
       .map(anchor => {
         return {
           href: anchor.href || 'Unknown',
diff --git a/lighthouse-core/test/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener-test.js b/lighthouse-core/test/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener-test.js
index a1b0237c500a..c89aab41e7c9 100644
--- a/lighthouse-core/test/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener-test.js
+++ b/lighthouse-core/test/audits/dobetterweb/external-anchors-use-rel-noopener-test.js
@@ -54,4 +54,16 @@ describe('External anchors use rel="noopener"', () => {
     assert.equal(auditResult.details.items.length, 3);
     assert.ok(auditResult.debugString, 'includes debugString');
   });
+
+  it('does not fail for links with javascript in href attribute', () => {
+    const auditResult = ExternalAnchorsAudit.audit({
+      AnchorsWithNoRelNoopener: [
+        {href: 'javascript:void(0)'},
+        {href: 'JAVASCRIPT:void(0)'},
+      ],
+      URL: {finalUrl: URL},
+    });
+    assert.equal(auditResult.rawValue, true);
+    assert.equal(auditResult.details.items.length, 0);
+  });
 });