diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/XSLTProcess.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/XSLTProcess.java
index 92f4ef1ce..e602b9b56 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/XSLTProcess.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/XSLTProcess.java
@@ -1330,7 +1330,7 @@ public class XSLTProcess extends MatchingTask implements XSLTLogger {
 
         ParamType type;
 
-        if (typeName == null || typeName.isEmpty()) {
+        if (typeName == null || "".equals(typeName)) {
             type = ParamType.STRING; // String is default
         } else {
             try {