diff --git a/addons/phone_validation/tests/__init__.py b/addons/phone_validation/tests/__init__.py
index ce1b2168e3b..6ca0192f909 100644
--- a/addons/phone_validation/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/addons/phone_validation/tests/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 # Part of Odoo. See LICENSE file for full copyright and licensing details.
 
+from . import test_phonenumbers
 from . import test_phonenumbers_patch
diff --git a/addons/phone_validation/tests/test_phonenumbers.py b/addons/phone_validation/tests/test_phonenumbers.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..720291f099a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/addons/phone_validation/tests/test_phonenumbers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Part of Odoo. See LICENSE file for full copyright and licensing details.
+
+from odoo.addons.phone_validation.tools import phone_validation
+from odoo.exceptions import UserError
+from odoo.tests import tagged
+from odoo.tests.common import BaseCase
+
+
+@tagged('phone_validation')
+class TestPhonenumbers(BaseCase):
+
+    def test_country_code_falsy(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            phone_validation.phone_format('0456998877', 'BE', '32', force_format='E164'),
+            '+32456998877'
+        )
+        # no country code -> UserError, no internal traceback
+        with self.assertRaises(UserError):
+            self.assertEqual(
+                phone_validation.phone_format('0456998877', None, '32', force_format='E164'),
+                '+32456998877'
+            )
diff --git a/addons/phone_validation/tools/phone_validation.py b/addons/phone_validation/tools/phone_validation.py
index 813f0e4f513..e6744669557 100644
--- a/addons/phone_validation/tools/phone_validation.py
+++ b/addons/phone_validation/tools/phone_validation.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ try:
 
     def phone_parse(number, country_code):
         try:
-            phone_nbr = phonenumbers.parse(number, region=country_code, keep_raw_input=True)
+            phone_nbr = phonenumbers.parse(number, region=country_code or None, keep_raw_input=True)
         except phonenumbers.phonenumberutil.NumberParseException as e:
             raise UserError(_('Unable to parse %(phone)s: %(error)s', phone=number, error=str(e)))