diff --git a/lib/gitlab/utils.rb b/lib/gitlab/utils.rb
index ad2efa6b4e1..41ed1dc5605 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/utils.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/utils.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module Gitlab
     def ensure_utf8_size(str, bytes:)
       raise ArgumentError if str.empty? || bytes.negative?
 
-      truncated = str.each_char.each_with_object(String.new) do |char, object|
+      truncated = str.each_char.each_with_object(+'') do |char, object|
         if object.bytesize + char.bytesize > bytes
           break object
         else
diff --git a/spec/config/settings_spec.rb b/spec/config/settings_spec.rb
index fdbd0cb8990..f579ecacd3a 100644
--- a/spec/config/settings_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/config/settings_spec.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ describe Settings do
 
       it 'expands db key base secret to 12 bytes' do
         expect(described_class.attr_encrypted_db_key_base_12)
-          .to eq ('a' * 10) + ("\0" * 2)
+          .to eq(('a' * 10) + ("\0" * 2))
       end
     end
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ describe Settings do
       it 'does not use more than 32 bytes' do
         db_key_base = described_class.attr_encrypted_db_key_base_12
 
-        expect(db_key_base).to eq ('❤' * 4)
+        expect(db_key_base).to eq('❤' * 4)
         expect(db_key_base.bytesize).to eq 12
       end
     end
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ describe Settings do
       it 'does not use more than 32 bytes' do
         db_key_base = described_class.attr_encrypted_db_key_base_32
 
-        expect(db_key_base).to eq ('❤' * 10) + ("\0" * 2)
+        expect(db_key_base).to eq(('❤' * 10) + ("\0" * 2))
         expect(db_key_base.bytesize).to eq 32
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/utils_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/utils_spec.rb
index 9927ad41108..7bf724bed6b 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/utils_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/utils_spec.rb
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Utils do
         transformed = described_class.ensure_utf8_size('a' * 10, bytes: 32)
 
         expect(transformed.bytesize).to eq 32
-        expect(transformed).to eq ('a' * 10) + ("\0" * 22)
+        expect(transformed).to eq(('a' * 10) + ("\0" * 22))
       end
     end
 
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Utils do
       it 'truncates string to 32 characters and backfills it if needed' do
         transformed = described_class.ensure_utf8_size('❤' * 18, bytes: 32)
 
-        expect(transformed).to eq ('❤' * 10) + ("\0" * 2)
+        expect(transformed).to eq(('❤' * 10) + ("\0" * 2))
         expect(transformed.bytesize).to eq 32
       end
     end