diff --git a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java
index d9799d5eda..0828ab1e0b 100644
--- a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java
+++ b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractByteBuf implements ByteBuf {
         if (endianness == null) {
             throw new NullPointerException("endianness");
         }
-        if (endianness == order() || capacity() == 0) {
+        if (endianness == order()) {
             return this;
         }