diff --git a/smartparens.el b/smartparens.el
index 67c71e2e..db769c65 100644
--- a/smartparens.el
+++ b/smartparens.el
@@ -5232,8 +5232,9 @@ is used to retrieve the prefix instead of the global setting."
       (let* ((pref (sp-get-pair op :prefix))
              (prefix
               (if pref
-                  (when (sp--looking-back pref sp-max-prefix-length)
-                    (match-string-no-properties 0))
+                  (if (sp--looking-back pref sp-max-prefix-length)
+                      (match-string-no-properties 0)
+                    "")
                 (-if-let (mmode-prefix (cdr (assoc major-mode sp-sexp-prefix)))
                     (cond
                      ((and (eq (car mmode-prefix) 'regexp)
@@ -5274,8 +5275,9 @@ is used to retrieve the suffix instead of the global setting."
       (let* ((suff (sp-get-pair op :suffix))
              (suffix
               (if suff
-                  (when (sp--looking-at suff)
-                    (match-string-no-properties 0))
+                  (if (sp--looking-at suff)
+                      (match-string-no-properties 0)
+                    "")
                 (-if-let (mmode-suffix (cdr (assoc major-mode sp-sexp-suffix)))
                     (cond
                      ((and (eq (car mmode-suffix) 'regexp)
diff --git a/test/smartparens-get-prefix-test.el b/test/smartparens-get-prefix-test.el
index 67de0171..49137e40 100644
--- a/test/smartparens-get-prefix-test.el
+++ b/test/smartparens-get-prefix-test.el
@@ -60,3 +60,13 @@
           (sp--update-local-pairs)
           (sp-skip-backward-to-symbol)
           (sp-buffer-equals "asd (aaa|(abc))"))))))
+
+(ert-deftest sp-test-get-prefix-always-return-string ()
+  "Previously in case of a pair-specific prefix we could return
+nil if there was no match."
+    (let ((sp-sexp-prefix '((emacs-lisp-mode regexp "\\(?:aaa\\)"))))
+      (sp-test-with-temp-elisp-buffer "asd (aaa|(abc))"
+        (let ((sp-pairs '((t (:open "(" :close ")" :actions (insert wrap autoskip navigate)))
+                          (emacs-lisp-mode (:open "(" :close ")" :actions (insert wrap autoskip navigate) :prefix "x")))))
+          (sp--update-local-pairs)
+          (should (equal (sp--get-prefix (point) "(") ""))))))
diff --git a/test/smartparens-get-suffix-test.el b/test/smartparens-get-suffix-test.el
index 491d9b78..b30c5ba8 100644
--- a/test/smartparens-get-suffix-test.el
+++ b/test/smartparens-get-suffix-test.el
@@ -25,3 +25,13 @@
     (sp-test-with-temp-buffer "«asdasd»|«asdasd»"
         (text-mode)
       (should (equal (sp--get-suffix (point) "«") "")))))
+
+(ert-deftest sp-test-get-suffix-always-return-string ()
+  "Previously in case of a pair-specific suffix we could return
+nil if there was no match."
+  (let ((sp-sexp-suffix '((emacs-lisp-mode regexp "\\(?:aaa\\)"))))
+    (sp-test-with-temp-elisp-buffer "((abc)|aaa) asd"
+      (let ((sp-pairs '((t (:open "(" :close ")" :actions (insert wrap autoskip navigate)))
+                        (emacs-lisp-mode (:open "(" :close ")" :actions (insert wrap autoskip navigate) :suffix "x")))))
+        (sp--update-local-pairs)
+        (should (equal (sp--get-suffix (point) "(") ""))))))