diff --git a/lib/_http_agent.js b/lib/_http_agent.js
index 14096361760657..b4a560b09df36c 100644
--- a/lib/_http_agent.js
+++ b/lib/_http_agent.js
@@ -125,10 +125,7 @@ function Agent(options) {
   validateOneOf(this.scheduling, 'scheduling', ['fifo', 'lifo']);
 
   if (this.maxTotalSockets !== undefined) {
-    validateNumber(this.maxTotalSockets, 'maxTotalSockets');
-    if (this.maxTotalSockets <= 0 || NumberIsNaN(this.maxTotalSockets))
-      throw new ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE('maxTotalSockets', '> 0',
-                                 this.maxTotalSockets);
+    validateNumber(this.maxTotalSockets, 'maxTotalSockets', 1);
   } else {
     this.maxTotalSockets = Infinity;
   }
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-http-agent-maxtotalsockets.js b/test/parallel/test-http-agent-maxtotalsockets.js
index c44c8db627d330..fce1bf8de83144 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-http-agent-maxtotalsockets.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-http-agent-maxtotalsockets.js
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ assert.throws(() => new http.Agent({
   }), {
     code: 'ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE',
     name: 'RangeError',
-    message: 'The value of "maxTotalSockets" is out of range. ' +
-      `It must be > 0. Received ${item}`,
   });
 });