diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
index 58759657a..8407c763e 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
@@ -570,16 +570,13 @@ public class Main {
         String defaultTarget = project.getDefaultTarget();
         if (defaultTarget != null && !"".equals(defaultTarget)) { // shouldn't need to check but...
             Vector defaultName = new Vector();
-            Vector defaultDesc = new Vector();
+            Vector defaultDesc = null;
             defaultName.addElement(defaultTarget);
 
             int indexOfDefDesc = topNames.indexOf(defaultTarget);
             if (indexOfDefDesc >= 0) {
                 defaultDesc.addElement(topDescriptions.elementAt(indexOfDefDesc));
-            } else {
-                defaultDesc.addElement("");
             }
-
             printTargets(defaultName, defaultDesc, "Default target:", maxLength);
 
         }