diff --git a/R-package/R/xgb.importance.R b/R-package/R/xgb.importance.R
index 55f680c42..07211ff59 100644
--- a/R-package/R/xgb.importance.R
+++ b/R-package/R/xgb.importance.R
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ xgb.importance <- function(feature_names = NULL, model = NULL, data = NULL, labe
   }
   
   linearDump <- function(feature_names, text){
-    which(text == "weight:") %>% {a =. + 1; text[a:length(text)]} %>% as.numeric %>% data.table(Feature = feature_names, Weight = .)
+    weights <- which(text == "weight:") %>% {a =. + 1; text[a:length(text)]} %>% as.numeric
+    if(is.null(feature_names)) feature_names <- seq(to = length(weights))
+    data.table(Feature = feature_names, Weight = weights)
   }
 
   model.text.dump <- xgb.dump(model = model, with.stats = T)
diff --git a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_helpers.R b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_helpers.R
index 2fec51bef..262ec1cd6 100644
--- a/R-package/tests/testthat/test_helpers.R
+++ b/R-package/tests/testthat/test_helpers.R
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ df[,ID := NULL]
 sparse_matrix <- sparse.model.matrix(Improved~.-1, data = df)
 output_vector <- df[,Y := 0][Improved == "Marked",Y := 1][,Y]
 bst <- xgboost(data = sparse_matrix, label = output_vector, max.depth = 9,
-               eta = 1, nthread = 2, nround = 10,objective = "binary:logistic")
+               eta = 1, nthread = 2, nround = 10, objective = "binary:logistic")
 
 feature.names <- agaricus.train$data@Dimnames[[2]]
 
@@ -40,6 +40,15 @@ test_that("xgb.importance works with and without feature names", {
   xgb.importance(model = bst)
 })
 
+test_that("xgb.importance works with GLM model", {
+  bst.GLM <- xgboost(data = sparse_matrix, label = output_vector,
+                 eta = 1, nthread = 2, nround = 10, objective = "binary:logistic", booster = "gblinear")
+  importance.GLM <- xgb.importance(feature_names = sparse_matrix@Dimnames[[2]], model = bst.GLM)
+  expect_equal(dim(importance.GLM), c(10, 2))
+  expect_equal(colnames(importance.GLM), c("Feature", "Weight"))
+  xgb.importance(model = bst.GLM)
+})
+
 test_that("xgb.plot.tree works with and without feature names", {
   xgb.plot.tree(feature_names = feature.names, model = bst)
   xgb.plot.tree(model = bst)