diff --git a/src/js/timeline/Timeline.js b/src/js/timeline/Timeline.js
index 97106097..b3103c37 100644
--- a/src/js/timeline/Timeline.js
+++ b/src/js/timeline/Timeline.js
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ class Timeline {
         this._timenav.init();
 
         // intial_zoom cannot be applied before the timenav has been created
-        if (this.options.initial_zoom) {
+        if (this.options.initial_zoom !== undefined && this.options.initial_zoom !== null) {
             // at this point, this.options refers to the merged set of options
             this.setZoom(this.options.initial_zoom);
         }