diff --git a/Lib/io.py b/Lib/io.py
index 3a1546a..a88b5a4 100644
--- a/Lib/io.py
+++ b/Lib/io.py
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@
         if n < 0:
             n = len(self._buffer)
         if len(self._buffer) <= self._pos:
-            return self._buffer[:0]
+            return bytes(self._buffer[:0])
         newpos = min(len(self._buffer), self._pos + n)
         b = self._buffer[self._pos : newpos]
         self._pos = newpos
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_memoryio.py b/Lib/test/test_memoryio.py
index 2f5982f..1afc363 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_memoryio.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_memoryio.py
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@
         self.assertEqual(memio.read(-1), buf)
         memio.seek(0)
         self.assertEqual(type(memio.read()), type(buf))
+        memio.seek(100)
+        self.assertEqual(type(memio.read()), type(buf))
         memio.seek(0)
         self.assertEqual(memio.read(None), buf)
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, memio.read, '')