diff --git a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
index a28a561f179f03..97ba51959d81cc 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
@@ -1939,9 +1939,12 @@ function reduceToSingleString(
                       braces[0].length + base.length + 10;
         if (isBelowBreakLength(ctx, output, start, base)) {
           const joinedOutput = join(output, ', ');
+          const space = joinedOutput.length > 0 ? ' ' : '';
           if (!joinedOutput.includes('\n')) {
-            return `${base ? `${base} ` : ''}${braces[0]} ${joinedOutput}` +
-              ` ${braces[1]}`;
+            return (
+              `${base ? `${base} ` : ''}${braces[0]}${space}${joinedOutput}` +
+              `${space}${braces[1]}`
+            );
           }
         }
       }
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect-proxy.js b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect-proxy.js
index fe69409a63a980..45b8449aac2fac 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect-proxy.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect-proxy.js
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ assert.strictEqual(details[1], null);
 details = processUtil.getProxyDetails(r.proxy, false);
 assert.strictEqual(details, null);
 
-assert.strictEqual(util.inspect(r.proxy), 'Proxy [  ]');
+assert.strictEqual(util.inspect(r.proxy), 'Proxy []');
 assert.strictEqual(
   util.inspect(r, { showProxy: true }),
   '{ proxy: Proxy [ null, null ], revoke: [Function (anonymous)] }',