diff --git a/src/share/vm/prims/jvmtiEnvBase.cpp b/src/share/vm/prims/jvmtiEnvBase.cpp
index 62591145feb9156c28d8fdbb36cf38f74b25b0fa..cae4a6a76d5b53ed44e88e9b3a9774487dc3dcd7 100644
--- a/src/share/vm/prims/jvmtiEnvBase.cpp
+++ b/src/share/vm/prims/jvmtiEnvBase.cpp
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ JvmtiEnvBase::JvmtiEnvBase() : _env_event_enable() {
   JvmtiEventController::env_initialize((JvmtiEnv*)this);
 
 #ifdef JVMTI_TRACE
-  _jvmti_external.functions = strlen(TraceJVMTI)? &jvmtiTrace_Interface : &jvmti_Interface;
+  _jvmti_external.functions = TraceJVMTI != NULL ? &jvmtiTrace_Interface : &jvmti_Interface;
 #else
   _jvmti_external.functions = &jvmti_Interface;
 #endif