diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/subr-x.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/subr-x.el
index 83528f5c5dd..4cdb065feeb 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/subr-x.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/subr-x.el
@@ -405,7 +405,6 @@ determining the width."
                       (with-current-buffer buffer
                         face-remapping-alist))
         (kill-local-variable 'face-remapping-alist))
-      (erase-buffer)
       (insert string)
       ;; Prefer `remove-text-properties' to `propertize' to avoid
       ;; creating a new string on each call.