diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index 21e24c2980f5e6..27e2b5393e7de0 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -521,12 +521,10 @@ Buffer.prototype.equals = function equals(b) {
 Buffer.prototype[internalUtil.customInspectSymbol] = function inspect() {
   var str = '';
   var max = exports.INSPECT_MAX_BYTES;
-  if (this.length > 0) {
-    str = this.toString('hex', 0, max).match(/.{2}/g).join(' ');
-    if (this.length > max)
-      str += ' ... ';
-  }
-  return '<' + this.constructor.name + ' ' + str + '>';
+  str = this.toString('hex', 0, max).replace(/(.{2})/g, '$1 ').trim();
+  if (this.length > max)
+    str += ' ... ';
+  return `<${this.constructor.name} ${str}>`;
 };
 Buffer.prototype.inspect = Buffer.prototype[internalUtil.customInspectSymbol];