diff --git a/lib/assertions.ts b/lib/assertions.ts
index 5612885e8..911a42245 100644
--- a/lib/assertions.ts
+++ b/lib/assertions.ts
@@ -1217,12 +1217,6 @@ export default class DOMAssertions {
    * @private
    */
   private get targetDescription(): string {
-    if (typeof this.target === 'string') {
-      return this.target;
-    } else if (this.target instanceof Element) {
-      return elementToString(this.target);
-    } else {
-      return '<not found>';
-    }
+    return elementToString(this.target);
   }
 }
diff --git a/lib/helpers/element-to-string.ts b/lib/helpers/element-to-string.ts
index 4f855a47a..985faf0c8 100644
--- a/lib/helpers/element-to-string.ts
+++ b/lib/helpers/element-to-string.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // imported from https://github.com/nathanboktae/chai-dom
 
-export default function elementToString(el: Element | NodeList | string): string {
+export default function elementToString(el: Element | NodeList | string | null): string {
+  if (!el) return '<not found>';
+
   let desc: string;
   if (el instanceof NodeList) {
     if (el.length === 0) {