--- old/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/security/provider/PolicyFile.java	2018-12-06 17:53:00.409416014 -0500
+++ new/src/java.base/share/classes/sun/security/provider/PolicyFile.java	2018-12-06 17:53:00.237415161 -0500
@@ -1608,7 +1608,7 @@
             if (u.getProtocol().equals("file")) {
                 boolean isLocalFile = false;
                 String host = u.getHost();
-                isLocalFile = (host == null || host.equals("") ||
+                isLocalFile = (host == null || host.isEmpty() ||
                     host.equals("~") || host.equalsIgnoreCase("localhost"));
 
                 if (isLocalFile) {