diff --git a/lib/path.js b/lib/path.js
index 079177694dc65c..e9f3adec9ef394 100644
--- a/lib/path.js
+++ b/lib/path.js
@@ -608,13 +608,9 @@ const win32 = {
 
   toNamespacedPath(path) {
     // Note: this will *probably* throw somewhere.
-    if (typeof path !== 'string')
+    if (typeof path !== 'string' || path.length === 0)
       return path;
 
-    if (path.length === 0) {
-      return '';
-    }
-
     const resolvedPath = win32.resolve(path);
 
     if (resolvedPath.length <= 2)