diff --git a/lib/vows/suite.js b/lib/vows/suite.js
index 9f95ef4..ac8abbb 100644
--- a/lib/vows/suite.js
+++ b/lib/vows/suite.js
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ this.Suite.prototype = new(function () {
             // If this context has a topic, store it in `lastTopic`,
             // if not, use the last topic, passed down by a parent
             // context.
-            if (topic) {
+            if (typeof(topic) !== 'undefined') {
                 lastTopic = topic;
             } else {
                 old   = true;
diff --git a/test/vows-test.js b/test/vows-test.js
index 6679cfb..a0d1b35 100644
--- a/test/vows-test.js
+++ b/test/vows-test.js
@@ -132,6 +132,13 @@ vows.describe("Vows").addBatch({
             assert.equal(topic, 45);
         }
     },
+    "A non-function topic with a falsy value": {
+        topic: 0,
+
+        "should work as expected": function (topic) {
+            assert.equal(topic, 0);
+        }
+    },
     "A topic returning a function": {
         topic: function () {
             return function () { return 42 };