diff --git a/lib/ip.js b/lib/ip.js
index 4b2adb5..36dddcb 100644
--- a/lib/ip.js
+++ b/lib/ip.js
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ ip.toBuffer = function (ip, buff, offset) {
   return result;
 };
 
-ip.toString = function (buff, offset, length) {
+function ipToString(buff, offset, length) {
   offset = ~~offset;
   length = length || (buff.length - offset);
 
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ ip.toString = function (buff, offset, length) {
 
   return result;
 };
+Object.defineProperty(ip, 'toString', { value: ipToString, writable: true, enumerable: true, configurable: true });
 
 const ipv4Regex = /^(\d{1,3}\.){3,3}\d{1,3}$/;
 const ipv6Regex = /^(::)?(((\d{1,3}\.){3}(\d{1,3}){1})?([0-9a-f]){0,4}:{0,2}){1,8}(::)?$/i;