diff --git a/ionic/platform/platform.ts b/ionic/platform/platform.ts
index 0a3b67e3a5..05a2504ce5 100644
--- a/ionic/platform/platform.ts
+++ b/ionic/platform/platform.ts
@@ -301,10 +301,8 @@ export class Platform {
    * @returns {boolean} TODO
    */
   testNavigatorPlatform(navigatorPlatformExpression) {
-    if (navigatorPlatformExpression && this._bPlt) {
-      let rgx = new RegExp(navigatorPlatformExpression, 'i');
-      return rgx.test(this._bPlt);
-    }
+    let rgx = new RegExp(navigatorPlatformExpression, 'i');
+    return rgx.test(this._bPlt);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/ionic/platform/registry.ts b/ionic/platform/registry.ts
index abf3218527..b8c209e5ee 100644
--- a/ionic/platform/registry.ts
+++ b/ionic/platform/registry.ts
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ Platform.register({
       // however, under-powered devices shouldn't use ripple
       // if this a linux device, and is using Android Chrome v36 (Android 5.0)
       // or above then use ripple, otherwise do not use a ripple effect
-      if (p.testNavigatorPlatform(/linux/i)) {
+      if (p.testNavigatorPlatform('linux')) {
         let chromeVersion = p.matchUserAgentVersion(/Chrome\/(\d+).(\d+)?/);
         if (chromeVersion) {
           // linux android device using modern android chrome browser gets ripple
@@ -175,5 +175,5 @@ function isIOSDevice(p) {
   // checks navigator.platform to see if it's an actual iOS device
   // this does not use the user-agent string because it is often spoofed
   // an actual iPad will return true, a chrome dev tools iPad will return false
-  return p.testNavigatorPlatform(/iphone|ipad|ipod/i);
+  return p.testNavigatorPlatform('iphone|ipad|ipod');
 }