diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 5c72990db..1d4c5bf07 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -205,6 +205,8 @@ exports.betterErrors = function (assertion) {
         );
         var spacing = (multiline ? '\n' : ' ');
         e._message = e.message;
+        // avoids error when stack trace is hidden with Error.stackTraceLimit
+        e.stack = e.stack || '';
         e.stack = (
             e.name + ':' + spacing +
             actual + spacing + e.operator + spacing +