--- old/src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/String.java	2014-12-19 15:07:59.040086191 +0100
+++ new/src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/String.java	2014-12-19 15:07:58.896088002 +0100
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@
      * unnecessary since Strings are immutable.
      */
     public String() {
-        this.value = new char[0];
+        this.value = "".value;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -198,7 +198,11 @@
         if (offset > value.length - count) {
             throw new StringIndexOutOfBoundsException(offset + count);
         }
-        this.value = Arrays.copyOfRange(value, offset, offset+count);
+        if (count > 0) {
+            this.value = Arrays.copyOfRange(value, offset, offset+count);
+        } else {
+            this.value = "".value;
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -243,29 +247,33 @@
 
         final int end = offset + count;
 
-        // Pass 1: Compute precise size of char[]
-        int n = count;
-        for (int i = offset; i < end; i++) {
+        if (count > 0) {
+            // Pass 1: Compute precise size of char[]
+            int n = count;
+            for (int i = offset; i < end; i++) {
             int c = codePoints[i];
             if (Character.isBmpCodePoint(c))
                 continue;
             else if (Character.isValidCodePoint(c))
                 n++;
-            else throw new IllegalArgumentException(Integer.toString(c));
-        }
+                else throw new IllegalArgumentException(Integer.toString(c));
+            }
 
-        // Pass 2: Allocate and fill in char[]
-        final char[] v = new char[n];
+            // Pass 2: Allocate and fill in char[]
+            final char[] v = new char[n];
 
-        for (int i = offset, j = 0; i < end; i++, j++) {
-            int c = codePoints[i];
-            if (Character.isBmpCodePoint(c))
-                v[j] = (char)c;
-            else
-                Character.toSurrogates(c, v, j++);
+            for (int i = offset, j = 0; i < end; i++, j++) {
+                int c = codePoints[i];
+                if (Character.isBmpCodePoint(c))
+                    v[j] = (char)c;
+                else
+                    Character.toSurrogates(c, v, j++);
+            }
+
+            this.value = v;
+        } else {
+            this.value = "".value;
         }
-
-        this.value = v;
     }
 
     /**