diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index d3eb752f17b..f4f916ff45e 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ SlowBuffer.prototype.hexSlice = function(start, end) {
   var len = this.length;
 
   if (!start || start < 0) start = 0;
-  if (end < 0 || start + end > len) end = len - start;
+  if (end < 0) end = len - start;
 
   var out = '';
   for (var i = start; i < end; i ++) {