diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index fc6b6573db8..dfd79e6290b 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -89,7 +89,9 @@ function Buffer(subject, encoding) {
 
 
 function SlowBuffer(length) {
-  length = ~~length;
+  length = length >>> 0;
+  if (length > kMaxLength)
+    throw new RangeError('length > kMaxLength');
   var b = new NativeBuffer(length);
   alloc(b, length);
   return b;