diff --git a/services/jni/com_android_server_BatteryService.cpp b/services/jni/com_android_server_BatteryService.cpp
index 485c289e68dda..433950d72f7a9 100644
--- a/services/jni/com_android_server_BatteryService.cpp
+++ b/services/jni/com_android_server_BatteryService.cpp
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ static jint getBatteryHealth(const char* status)
 
 static int readFromFile(const String8& path, char* buf, size_t size)
 {
-    if (!path)
+    if (path.isEmpty())
         return -1;
     int fd = open(path.string(), O_RDONLY, 0);
     if (fd == -1) {