diff --git a/strings/capitalize.py b/strings/capitalize.py
index 628ebffc8852..32c0b1644ba5 100644
--- a/strings/capitalize.py
+++ b/strings/capitalize.py
@@ -13,12 +13,11 @@ def capitalize(sentence: str) -> str:
     >>> capitalize("")
     ''
     """
-    if not sentence:
-        return ""
 
     # Capitalize the first character if it's a lowercase letter
     # Concatenate the capitalized character with the rest of the string
-    return sentence[0].upper() + sentence[1:]
+    # Slicing keeps this safe for empty strings.
+    return sentence[:1].upper() + sentence[1:]
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":