diff --git a/lib/pure/collections/critbits.nim b/lib/pure/collections/critbits.nim
index 6435abd0d0..c8ce7a4d20 100644
--- a/lib/pure/collections/critbits.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/collections/critbits.nim
@@ -495,13 +495,16 @@ func `$`*[T](c: CritBitTree[T]): string =
       const avgItemLen = 16
     result = newStringOfCap(c.count * avgItemLen)
     result.add("{")
+    var first = true
     when T is void:
       for key in keys(c):
-        if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
+        if first: first = false
+        else: result.add(", ")
         result.addQuoted(key)
     else:
       for key, val in pairs(c):
-        if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
+        if first: first = false
+        else: result.add(", ")
         result.addQuoted(key)
         result.add(": ")
         result.addQuoted(val)
diff --git a/lib/pure/collections/deques.nim b/lib/pure/collections/deques.nim
index 5d67b361ea..0f797fad7d 100644
--- a/lib/pure/collections/deques.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/collections/deques.nim
@@ -454,8 +454,10 @@ proc `$`*[T](deq: Deque[T]): string =
     assert $a == "[10, 20, 30]"
 
   result = "["
+  var first = true
   for x in deq:
-    if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
+    if first: first = false
+    else: result.add(", ")
     result.addQuoted(x)
   result.add("]")
 
diff --git a/lib/pure/collections/heapqueue.nim b/lib/pure/collections/heapqueue.nim
index e83e5abbef..e2b6a6b52a 100644
--- a/lib/pure/collections/heapqueue.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/collections/heapqueue.nim
@@ -260,7 +260,9 @@ proc `$`*[T](heap: HeapQueue[T]): string =
     assert $heap == "[1, 2]"
 
   result = "["
+  var first = true
   for x in heap.data:
-    if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
+    if first: first = false
+    else: result.add(", ")
     result.addQuoted(x)
   result.add("]")
diff --git a/lib/pure/collections/lists.nim b/lib/pure/collections/lists.nim
index 6e7de204f1..7ca2242e5f 100644
--- a/lib/pure/collections/lists.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/collections/lists.nim
@@ -304,8 +304,10 @@ proc `$`*[T](L: SomeLinkedCollection[T]): string =
     assert $a == "[1, 2, 3, 4]"
 
   result = "["
+  var first = true
   for x in nodes(L):
-    if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
+    if first: first = false
+    else: result.add(", ")
     result.addQuoted(x.value)
   result.add("]")
 
diff --git a/lib/pure/strtabs.nim b/lib/pure/strtabs.nim
index 4b07aca5a3..663d4c832b 100644
--- a/lib/pure/strtabs.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/strtabs.nim
@@ -380,8 +380,10 @@ proc `$`*(t: StringTableRef): string {.rtlFunc, extern: "nstDollar".} =
     result = "{:}"
   else:
     result = "{"
+    var first = true
     for key, val in pairs(t):
-      if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
+      if first: first = false
+      else: result.add(", ")
       result.add(key)
       result.add(": ")
       result.add(val)
diff --git a/tests/stdlib/tdeques.nim b/tests/stdlib/tdeques.nim
index 7d379a5975..e1ad50a84c 100644
--- a/tests/stdlib/tdeques.nim
+++ b/tests/stdlib/tdeques.nim
@@ -241,3 +241,12 @@ proc main() =
 
 static: main()
 main()
+
+# https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/18583
+# $ separator must be emitted even when the item's string repr is empty
+type EmptyStr18583 = object
+proc `$`(x: EmptyStr18583): string = ""
+
+block:
+  var d = [EmptyStr18583(), EmptyStr18583()].toDeque
+  doAssert $d == "[, ]", "got: " & $d
diff --git a/tests/stdlib/theapqueue.nim b/tests/stdlib/theapqueue.nim
index afb09c7e3f..92964c5641 100644
--- a/tests/stdlib/theapqueue.nim
+++ b/tests/stdlib/theapqueue.nim
@@ -104,3 +104,15 @@ template main() =
 
 static: main()
 main()
+
+# https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/18583
+type EmptyStr18583HeapQ = object
+proc `$`(x: EmptyStr18583HeapQ): string = ""
+proc `<`(a, b: EmptyStr18583HeapQ): bool = false
+
+block:
+  var h = initHeapQueue[EmptyStr18583HeapQ]()
+  push(h, EmptyStr18583HeapQ())
+  push(h, EmptyStr18583HeapQ())
+  let s = $h
+  doAssert s == "[, ]", "got: " & s
diff --git a/tests/stdlib/tlists.nim b/tests/stdlib/tlists.nim
index 9339a6df05..cffb00d586 100644
--- a/tests/stdlib/tlists.nim
+++ b/tests/stdlib/tlists.nim
@@ -287,3 +287,14 @@ template main =
 
 static: main()
 main()
+
+# https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/18583
+type EmptyStr18583List = object
+proc `$`(x: EmptyStr18583List): string = ""
+
+block:
+  var L: SinglyLinkedList[EmptyStr18583List]
+  L.prepend(EmptyStr18583List())
+  L.prepend(EmptyStr18583List())
+  let s = $L
+  doAssert s == "[, ]", "got: " & s