diff --git a/lib/cache.js b/lib/cache.js
index a47665c1ef113..3a4681b2af107 100644
--- a/lib/cache.js
+++ b/lib/cache.js
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ const add = async (args, where) => {
     '    npm cache add <folder>\n'
   log.silly('cache add', 'args', args)
   const spec = args[0] +
-    (args[1] === undefined || args[1] === null ? `@${args[1]}` : '')
+    (args[1] === undefined || args[1] === null ? '' : `@${args[1]}`)
 
   log.verbose('cache add', 'spec', spec)
   if (!spec) {