diff --git a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
index 094240c694ea53..12f7cb9e53ce6b 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
@@ -259,9 +259,8 @@ function strEscape(str) {
       last = i + 1;
     }
   }
-  if (last === 0) {
-    result = str;
-  } else if (last !== i) {
+
+  if (last !== i) {
     result += str.slice(last);
   }
   return `'${result}'`;