diff --git a/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/breadcrumb.rb b/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/breadcrumb.rb
index 4dce35df1..8aea2584a 100644
--- a/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/breadcrumb.rb
+++ b/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/breadcrumb.rb
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ def to_hash
     # @param message [String]
     # @return [void]
     def message=(message)
-      @message = (message || "").byteslice(0..Event::MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE_IN_BYTES)
+      @message = message ? message.byteslice(0..Event::MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE_IN_BYTES) : ""
     end
 
     # @param level [String]