diff --git a/string.c b/string.c
index 9da5708964..cfad52d2e3 100644
--- a/string.c
+++ b/string.c
@@ -9689,7 +9689,7 @@ rb_str_chomp_bang(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE str)
 {
     VALUE rs;
     str_modifiable(str);
-    if (RSTRING_LEN(str) == 0) return Qnil;
+    if (RSTRING_LEN(str) == 0 && argc < 2) return Qnil;
     rs = chomp_rs(argc, argv);
     if (NIL_P(rs)) return Qnil;
     return rb_str_chomp_string(str, rs);
diff --git a/test/ruby/test_string.rb b/test/ruby/test_string.rb
index 42553cba82..1c7e085630 100644
--- a/test/ruby/test_string.rb
+++ b/test/ruby/test_string.rb
@@ -587,6 +587,8 @@ CODE
     assert_equal("foo", s.chomp!("\n"))
     s = "foo\r"
     assert_equal("foo", s.chomp!("\n"))
+
+    assert_raise(ArgumentError) {String.new.chomp!("", "")}
   ensure
     $/ = save
     $VERBOSE = verbose