--- a/src/java.sql.rowset/share/classes/com/sun/rowset/internal/WebRowSetXmlWriter.java	Fri Dec 07 17:11:17 2018 +0100
+++ b/src/java.sql.rowset/share/classes/com/sun/rowset/internal/WebRowSetXmlWriter.java	Fri Dec 07 11:51:17 2018 -0500
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@
     private void writeStringData(String s) throws java.io.IOException {
         if (s == null) {
             writeNull();
-        } else if (s.equals("")) {
+        } else if (s.isEmpty()) {
             writeEmptyString();
         } else {