diff --git a/spec/03-editline_spec.lua b/spec/03-editline_spec.lua
index bec20d6e..fe8f80e9 100644
--- a/spec/03-editline_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/03-editline_spec.lua
@@ -1147,8 +1147,7 @@ describe("EditLine:", function()
     end)
 
 
-    pending("returns an empty string for out-of-bounds indices", function()
-      -- TODO: fix this test
+    it("returns an empty string for out-of-bounds indices", function()
       local line = EditLine("hello")
       local exp = tostring(line):sub(10, 15)
       local val = tostring(line:sub_char(10, 15))
diff --git a/src/terminal/editline.lua b/src/terminal/editline.lua
index 7bd7327c..dd92c732 100644
--- a/src/terminal/editline.lua
+++ b/src/terminal/editline.lua
@@ -420,8 +420,21 @@ end
 -- @treturn EditLine A new EditLine instance containing the substring.
 function EditLine:sub_char(i, j)
   assert(i, "expected argument #1 to be a number")
-  i = utils.resolve_index(i, #self.chars, 1)
-  j = utils.resolve_index(j or -1, #self.chars, 1)
+
+  local len = #self.chars
+  j = j or -1
+
+  if i > len then
+    return EditLine("")
+  end
+
+  i = utils.resolve_index(i, len, 1)
+  j = utils.resolve_index(j, len, 1)
+
+  if i > j then
+    return EditLine("")
+  end
+
   return EditLine(table.concat(self.chars, "", i, j))
 end