diff --git a/src/range.js b/src/range.js
index 7d25681..24edd62 100644
--- a/src/range.js
+++ b/src/range.js
@@ -16,10 +16,5 @@ import rangeBy from './rangeBy'
  * range(0, -5) // => [0, -1, -2, -3, -4]
  */
 export default _defn('range', function (start, end) {
-  if (start < end) return rangeBy(1, start, end)
-  if (start > end) return rangeBy(-1, start, end)
-  throw new Error(
-    'The `start` value provided to `range` must be greater than or less ' +
-    'than the `end` value. Received the same value for both: ' + start + '.'
-  )
+  return rangeBy(start < end ? 1 : -1, start, end)
 })
diff --git a/tests/range.spec.js b/tests/range.spec.js
index 45e7913..cb1d9ca 100644
--- a/tests/range.spec.js
+++ b/tests/range.spec.js
@@ -17,10 +17,6 @@ test('returns an array of numbers stepped by -1 when start > end', (t) => {
   t.deepEqual(range(0, -10), [0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9])
 })
 
-test('throws when end === start', (t) => {
-  t.throws(
-    () => range(1, 1),
-    'The `start` value provided to `range` must be greater than or less than ' +
-    'the `end` value. Received the same value for both: 1.'
-  )
+test('returns an empty array when start === end', (t) => {
+  t.deepEqual(range(5, 5), [])
 })