diff --git a/packages/animations/browser/src/dsl/animation_timeline_builder.ts b/packages/animations/browser/src/dsl/animation_timeline_builder.ts
index 25872f9050..2c29d9e071 100644
--- a/packages/animations/browser/src/dsl/animation_timeline_builder.ts
+++ b/packages/animations/browser/src/dsl/animation_timeline_builder.ts
@@ -454,27 +454,28 @@ export class AnimationTimelineContext {
   updateOptions(options: AnimationOptions|null, skipIfExists?: boolean) {
     if (!options) return;
 
-    // NOTE: this will get patched up when other animation methods support duration overrides
     const newOptions = options as any;
+    let optionsToUpdate = this.options;
+
+    // NOTE: this will get patched up when other animation methods support duration overrides
     if (newOptions.duration != null) {
-      (this.options as any).duration = resolveTimingValue(newOptions.duration);
+      (optionsToUpdate as any).duration = resolveTimingValue(newOptions.duration);
     }
 
     if (newOptions.delay != null) {
-      this.options.delay = resolveTimingValue(newOptions.delay);
+      optionsToUpdate.delay = resolveTimingValue(newOptions.delay);
     }
 
     const newParams = newOptions.params;
     if (newParams) {
-      let params: {[name: string]: any} = this.options && this.options.params !;
-      if (!params) {
-        params = this.options.params = {};
+      let paramsToUpdate: {[name: string]: any} = optionsToUpdate.params !;
+      if (!paramsToUpdate) {
+        paramsToUpdate = this.options.params = {};
       }
 
-      Object.keys(params).forEach(name => {
-        const value = params[name];
-        if (!skipIfExists || !newOptions.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
-          params[name] = value;
+      Object.keys(newParams).forEach(name => {
+        if (!skipIfExists || !paramsToUpdate.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
+          paramsToUpdate[name] = newParams[name];
         }
       });
     }
diff --git a/packages/animations/browser/test/dsl/animation_spec.ts b/packages/animations/browser/test/dsl/animation_spec.ts
index 56d3590bb2..4387bb3e89 100644
--- a/packages/animations/browser/test/dsl/animation_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/animations/browser/test/dsl/animation_spec.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
-import {AUTO_STYLE, AnimationMetadata, AnimationMetadataType, animate, group, keyframes, query, sequence, style, ɵStyleData} from '@angular/animations';
+import {AUTO_STYLE, AnimationMetadata, AnimationMetadataType, animate, animation, group, keyframes, query, sequence, style, useAnimation, ɵStyleData} from '@angular/animations';
 import {AnimationOptions} from '@angular/core/src/animation/dsl';
 
 import {Animation} from '../../src/dsl/animation';
@@ -304,10 +304,31 @@ export function main() {
       });
 
       describe('subtitutions', () => {
+        it('should allow params to be subtituted even if they are not defaulted in a reusable animation',
+           () => {
+             const myAnimation = animation([
+               style({left: '{{ start }}'}),
+               animate(1000, style({left: '{{ end }}'})),
+             ]);
+
+             const steps = [
+               useAnimation(myAnimation, {params: {start: '0px', end: '100px'}}),
+             ];
+
+             const players = invokeAnimationSequence(rootElement, steps, {});
+             expect(players.length).toEqual(1);
+             const player = players[0];
+
+             expect(player.keyframes).toEqual([
+               {left: '0px', offset: 0},
+               {left: '100px', offset: 1},
+             ]);
+           });
+
         it('should substitute in timing values', () => {
-          function makeAnimation(exp: string, values: {[key: string]: any}) {
+          function makeAnimation(exp: string, options: {[key: string]: any}) {
             const steps = [style({opacity: 0}), animate(exp, style({opacity: 1}))];
-            return invokeAnimationSequence(rootElement, steps, values);
+            return invokeAnimationSequence(rootElement, steps, options);
           }
 
           let players = makeAnimation('{{ duration }}', buildParams({duration: '1234ms'}));