diff --git a/web3.js/src/publickey.js b/web3.js/src/publickey.js
index 27f50ce69b..a37b3560f1 100644
--- a/web3.js/src/publickey.js
+++ b/web3.js/src/publickey.js
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export class PublicKey {
       return b;
     }
 
-    const zeroPad = new Buffer(32);
+    const zeroPad = Buffer.alloc(32);
     b.copy(zeroPad);
     return zeroPad;
   }