diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java
index c31fcec..976117f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONObject.java
@@ -2752,8 +2752,7 @@ public class JSONObject {
             if (NULL.equals(object)) {
                 return NULL;
             }
-            if (object instanceof JSONObject || object instanceof JSONArray
-                    || NULL.equals(object) || object instanceof JSONString
+            if (object instanceof JSONObject || object instanceof JSONArray || object instanceof JSONString
                     || object instanceof Byte || object instanceof Character
                     || object instanceof Short || object instanceof Integer
                     || object instanceof Long || object instanceof Boolean
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java
index 9004048..34066c1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ public class JSONPointer {
      */
     @Override
     public String toString() {
-        StringBuilder rval = new StringBuilder("");
+        StringBuilder rval = new StringBuilder();
         for (String token: this.refTokens) {
             rval.append('/').append(escape(token));
         }