diff --git a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
index fed88e963a178c..a22f1e7a1b6e9b 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
@@ -1412,9 +1412,7 @@ function formatNamespaceObject(keys, ctx, value, recurseTimes) {
       output[i] = formatProperty(ctx, value, recurseTimes, keys[i],
                                  kObjectType);
     } catch (err) {
-      if (!(isNativeError(err) && err.name === 'ReferenceError')) {
-        throw err;
-      }
+      assert(isNativeError(err) && err.name === 'ReferenceError');
       // Use the existing functionality. This makes sure the indentation and
       // line breaks are always correct. Otherwise it is very difficult to keep
       // this aligned, even though this is a hacky way of dealing with this.