diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index 9163eb17c81afa..590b0d3905155d 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -228,8 +228,6 @@ function fromString(string, encoding) {
     length = binding.byteLengthUtf8(string);
   } else {
     length = byteLength(string, encoding, true);
-    if (length === -1)
-      throw new TypeError('"encoding" must be a valid string encoding');
     if (string.length === 0)
       return new FastBuffer();
   }