diff --git a/lib/assert.js b/lib/assert.js
index 2130b36c9..0b4c74aeb 100644
--- a/lib/assert.js
+++ b/lib/assert.js
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ function assertExpectations({assertion, actual, expectations, message, prefix, s
 		});
 	}
 
-	if (typeof expectations.code === 'string' && actual.code !== expectations.code) {
+	if (actual.code !== expectations.code) {
 		throw new AssertionError({
 			assertion,
 			message,
diff --git a/test/assert.js b/test/assert.js
index f3bef9446..40cb2c4e1 100644
--- a/test/assert.js
+++ b/test/assert.js
@@ -858,6 +858,14 @@ test('.throws()', gather(t => {
 			throw err;
 		}, {code: 'ERR_TEST'});
 	});
+
+	fails(t, () => {
+		assertions.throws(() => {
+			const err = new TypeError();
+			err.code = 1;
+			throw err;
+		}, {code: 42});
+	});
 }));
 
 test('.throws() returns the thrown error', t => {