diff --git a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/Schema.java b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/Schema.java
index e86ae3e5b83..5434f18f852 100644
--- a/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/Schema.java
+++ b/lang/java/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/avro/Schema.java
@@ -717,7 +717,7 @@ public Name(String name, String space) {
         space = name.substring(0, lastDot); // get space from name
         this.name = validateName(name.substring(lastDot + 1));
       }
-      this.space = "".equals(space) || space == null ? null : validateSpace(space);
+      this.space = space.isEmpty() || space == null ? null : validateSpace(space);
       this.full = (this.space == null) ? this.name : this.space + "." + this.name;
     }