diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index ee30c69cc9611c..12d730ad463b63 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -860,11 +860,11 @@ Buffer.prototype.equals = function equals(otherBuffer) {
 
   if (this === otherBuffer)
     return true;
-
-  if (this.byteLength !== otherBuffer.byteLength)
+  const len = this.byteLength;
+  if (len !== otherBuffer.byteLength)
     return false;
 
-  return this.byteLength === 0 || _compare(this, otherBuffer) === 0;
+  return len === 0 || _compare(this, otherBuffer) === 0;
 };
 
 let INSPECT_MAX_BYTES = 50;