diff --git a/src/QueryComplexity.ts b/src/QueryComplexity.ts
index 348c4f5..e2c4718 100644
--- a/src/QueryComplexity.ts
+++ b/src/QueryComplexity.ts
@@ -173,6 +173,12 @@ export default class QueryComplexity {
       this.options.variables ?? {}
     ).coerced;
 
+    // If there are no coerced variable values it is because one or all of those variables were
+    // absent. In this case fallback to what was provided and ignore defaults.
+    if (!this.variableValues) {
+      this.variableValues = this.options.variables;
+    }
+
     switch (operation.operation) {
       case 'query':
         this.complexity += this.nodeComplexity(
@@ -261,28 +267,36 @@ export default class QueryComplexity {
 
             for (const directive of childNode.directives ?? []) {
               const directiveName = directive.name.value;
-              switch (directiveName) {
-                case 'include': {
-                  const values = getDirectiveValues(
-                    this.includeDirectiveDef,
-                    childNode,
-                    this.variableValues || {}
-                  );
-                  if (typeof values.if === 'boolean') {
-                    includeNode = values.if;
+              try {
+                switch (directiveName) {
+                  case 'include': {
+                    const values = getDirectiveValues(
+                      this.includeDirectiveDef,
+                      childNode,
+                      this.variableValues || {}
+                    );
+                    if (typeof values.if === 'boolean') {
+                      includeNode = values.if;
+                    }
+                    break;
                   }
-                  break;
-                }
-                case 'skip': {
-                  const values = getDirectiveValues(
-                    this.skipDirectiveDef,
-                    childNode,
-                    this.variableValues || {}
-                  );
-                  if (typeof values.if === 'boolean') {
-                    skipNode = values.if;
+                  case 'skip': {
+                    const values = getDirectiveValues(
+                      this.skipDirectiveDef,
+                      childNode,
+                      this.variableValues || {}
+                    );
+                    if (typeof values.if === 'boolean') {
+                      skipNode = values.if;
+                    }
+                    break;
                   }
-                  break;
+                }
+              } catch (error) {
+                // Ignore GraphQLErrors in favor of falling back to the default values for
+                // includeNode and skipNode
+                if (!(error instanceof GraphQLError)) {
+                  throw error;
                 }
               }
             }
diff --git a/src/__tests__/QueryComplexity-test.ts b/src/__tests__/QueryComplexity-test.ts
index a0979db..ee9c033 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/QueryComplexity-test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/QueryComplexity-test.ts
@@ -271,6 +271,93 @@ describe('QueryComplexity analysis', () => {
     expect(visitor.complexity).to.equal(10);
   });
 
+  it('should ignore unused variables with include', () => {
+    const ast = parse(`
+      query ($unusedVar: ID!, $shouldInclude: Boolean! = false) {
+        variableScalar(count: 100) @include(if: $shouldInclude)
+      }
+    `);
+
+    const context = new CompatibleValidationContext(schema, ast, typeInfo);
+    const visitor = new ComplexityVisitor(context, {
+      maximumComplexity: 100,
+      estimators: [simpleEstimator({ defaultComplexity: 10 })],
+      variables: { shouldInclude: true },
+    });
+
+    visit(ast, visitWithTypeInfo(typeInfo, visitor));
+    expect(visitor.complexity).to.equal(10);
+  });
+
+  it('should ignore unused variables with skip', () => {
+    const ast = parse(`
+      query ($unusedVar: ID!, $shouldSkip: Boolean! = false) {
+        variableScalar(count: 100) @skip(if: $shouldSkip)
+      }
+    `);
+
+    const context = new CompatibleValidationContext(schema, ast, typeInfo);
+    const visitor = new ComplexityVisitor(context, {
+      maximumComplexity: 100,
+      estimators: [simpleEstimator({ defaultComplexity: 10 })],
+      variables: { shouldSkip: false },
+    });
+
+    visit(ast, visitWithTypeInfo(typeInfo, visitor));
+    expect(visitor.complexity).to.equal(10);
+  });
+
+  it('should ignore unused variables with unused include', () => {
+    const ast = parse(`
+      query ($unusedVar: ID!, $shouldInclude: Boolean! = false) {
+        variableScalar(count: 100) @include(if: $shouldInclude)
+      }
+    `);
+
+    const context = new CompatibleValidationContext(schema, ast, typeInfo);
+    const visitor = new ComplexityVisitor(context, {
+      maximumComplexity: 100,
+      estimators: [simpleEstimator({ defaultComplexity: 10 })],
+    });
+
+    visit(ast, visitWithTypeInfo(typeInfo, visitor));
+    expect(visitor.complexity).to.equal(10);
+  });
+
+  it('should ignore unused variables with unused skip', () => {
+    const ast = parse(`
+      query ($unusedVar: ID!, $shouldSkip: Boolean! = false) {
+        variableScalar(count: 100) @skip(if: $shouldSkip)
+      }
+    `);
+
+    const context = new CompatibleValidationContext(schema, ast, typeInfo);
+    const visitor = new ComplexityVisitor(context, {
+      maximumComplexity: 100,
+      estimators: [simpleEstimator({ defaultComplexity: 10 })],
+    });
+
+    visit(ast, visitWithTypeInfo(typeInfo, visitor));
+    expect(visitor.complexity).to.equal(10);
+  });
+
+  it('should ignore multiple unused variables', () => {
+    const ast = parse(`
+      query ($unusedVar: ID!, $anotherUnusedVar: Boolean!) {
+        variableScalar(count: 100)
+      }
+    `);
+
+    const context = new CompatibleValidationContext(schema, ast, typeInfo);
+    const visitor = new ComplexityVisitor(context, {
+      maximumComplexity: 100,
+      estimators: [simpleEstimator({ defaultComplexity: 10 })],
+    });
+
+    visit(ast, visitWithTypeInfo(typeInfo, visitor));
+    expect(visitor.complexity).to.equal(10);
+  });
+
   it('should ignore unknown field', () => {
     const ast = parse(`
       query {
@@ -639,7 +726,7 @@ describe('QueryComplexity analysis', () => {
           ...on Union {
             ...on Item {
               complexScalar1: complexScalar
-            } 
+            }
           }
           ...on SecondItem {
             scalar
@@ -678,7 +765,7 @@ describe('QueryComplexity analysis', () => {
       fragment F on Union {
         ...on Item {
           complexScalar1: complexScalar
-        } 
+        }
       }
     `);
 
@@ -759,7 +846,7 @@ describe('QueryComplexity analysis', () => {
           }
         }
       }
-      
+
       fragment F on Query {
         complexScalar
         ...on Query {