diff --git a/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/create-empty-steps.js b/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/create-empty-steps.js
index 472fdb464f..97ea955d9d 100644
--- a/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/create-empty-steps.js
+++ b/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/create-empty-steps.js
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ if (!num) {
 num = parseInt(num, 10);
 const stepStart = parseInt(start, 10);
 
-if (num > 0 && num < 20) {
-  throw `No steps created. num arg val must be greater than 1 and less than or equal to 20.`;
+if (num < 1 || num > 20) {
+  throw `No steps created. arg 'num' must be between 1 and 20 inclusive`;
 }
 
 const maxStepNum = stepStart + num - 1;
diff --git a/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/utils.js b/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/utils.js
index 30d9f20688..246519b0cc 100644
--- a/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/utils.js
+++ b/tools/challenge-helper-scripts/utils.js
@@ -5,12 +5,7 @@ const ObjectID = require('bson-objectid');
 
 const padWithLeadingZeros = originalNum => {
   /* always want file step numbers 3 digits */
-  const maxDigits = 3;
-  let paddedNum = '' + originalNum;
-  while (paddedNum.length < maxDigits) {
-    paddedNum = '0' + paddedNum;
-  }
-  return paddedNum;
+  return ('' + originalNum).padStart(3, '0');
 };
 
 const removeErms = seedCode => {