diff --git a/lib/fs.js b/lib/fs.js
index d770c6ecd2dd6e..2c2a053c7f9bf9 100644
--- a/lib/fs.js
+++ b/lib/fs.js
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ const { Buffer, kMaxLength } = require('buffer');
 const errors = require('internal/errors');
 const {
   ERR_FS_FILE_TOO_LARGE,
+  ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE,
   ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE,
   ERR_INVALID_CALLBACK
 } = errors.codes;
@@ -457,6 +458,11 @@ function read(fd, buffer, offset, length, position, callback) {
     });
   }
 
+  if (buffer.length === 0) {
+    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE('buffer', buffer,
+                                    'is empty and cannot be written');
+  }
+
   validateOffsetLengthRead(offset, length, buffer.length);
 
   if (!Number.isSafeInteger(position))
@@ -487,6 +493,11 @@ function readSync(fd, buffer, offset, length, position) {
     return 0;
   }
 
+  if (buffer.length === 0) {
+    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE('buffer', buffer,
+                                    'is empty and cannot be written');
+  }
+
   validateOffsetLengthRead(offset, length, buffer.length);
 
   if (!Number.isSafeInteger(position))
diff --git a/lib/internal/fs/promises.js b/lib/internal/fs/promises.js
index fac430bbe227e1..f38a3e59befc05 100644
--- a/lib/internal/fs/promises.js
+++ b/lib/internal/fs/promises.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ const { Buffer, kMaxLength } = require('buffer');
 const {
   ERR_FS_FILE_TOO_LARGE,
   ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE,
+  ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE,
   ERR_METHOD_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
 } = require('internal/errors').codes;
 const { getPathFromURL } = require('internal/url');
@@ -208,6 +209,11 @@ async function read(handle, buffer, offset, length, position) {
   if (length === 0)
     return { bytesRead: length, buffer };
 
+  if (buffer.length === 0) {
+    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE('buffer', buffer,
+                                    'is empty and cannot be written');
+  }
+
   validateOffsetLengthRead(offset, length, buffer.length);
 
   if (!Number.isSafeInteger(position))
diff --git a/lib/internal/fs/utils.js b/lib/internal/fs/utils.js
index 7aa19605e92a6a..a2f1015c62b8ff 100644
--- a/lib/internal/fs/utils.js
+++ b/lib/internal/fs/utils.js
@@ -293,7 +293,8 @@ function validateOffsetLengthRead(offset, length, bufferLength) {
   let err;
 
   if (offset < 0 || offset >= bufferLength) {
-    err = new ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE('offset', `>= 0 && <= ${bufferLength}`, offset);
+    err = new ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE('offset',
+                               `>= 0 && <= ${bufferLength}`, offset);
   } else if (length < 0 || offset + length > bufferLength) {
     err = new ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE('length',
                                `>= 0 && <= ${bufferLength - offset}`, length);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-fs-read-empty-buffer.js b/test/parallel/test-fs-read-empty-buffer.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..281d2675e72730
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-fs-read-empty-buffer.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+'use strict';
+require('../common');
+const fixtures = require('../common/fixtures');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const filepath = fixtures.path('x.txt');
+const fd = fs.openSync(filepath, 'r');
+
+const buffer = new Uint8Array();
+
+assert.throws(
+  () => fs.readSync(fd, buffer, 0, 10, 0),
+  {
+    code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE',
+    message: 'The argument \'buffer\' is empty and cannot be written. ' +
+    'Received Uint8Array [  ]'
+  }
+);