diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/util/StringUtils.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/util/StringUtils.java
index e1567c186..2fbd12dcc 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/util/StringUtils.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/util/StringUtils.java
@@ -480,13 +480,13 @@ public static String formatWithSuffix(long value) {
 		if (strings == null || strings.length == 0) {
 			return EMPTY;
 		}
-		if (strings.length == 1) {
-			return strings[0] == null ? EMPTY : strings[0];
-		}
 		String first = strings[0];
 		if (first == null) {
 			return EMPTY;
 		}
+		if (strings.length == 1) {
+			return first;
+		}
 		for (int i = 0; i < first.length(); i++) {
 			char currentChar = first.charAt(i);
 			for (int j = 1; j < strings.length; j++) {