diff --git a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/ProtobufUiModule.java b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/ProtobufUiModule.java
index 0edc76c..ddbcb3d 100644
--- a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/ProtobufUiModule.java
+++ b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/ProtobufUiModule.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.validation.IResourceUIValidatorExtension;
 
 /**
- * Use this class to register components to be used within the IDE.
+ * Registers components to be used within the IDE.
  *
  * @author alruiz@google.com (Alex Ruiz)
  */
diff --git a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/exception/CoreExceptions.java b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/exception/CoreExceptions.java
index 2279609..2c7f03d 100644
--- a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/exception/CoreExceptions.java
+++ b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/ui/exception/CoreExceptions.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
  */
 package com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui.exception;
 
+import static com.google.common.base.Strings.nullToEmpty;
 import static com.google.eclipse.protobuf.ui.ProtobufUiModule.PLUGIN_ID;
 import static org.eclipse.core.runtime.IStatus.ERROR;
 
@@ -20,10 +21,7 @@
  */
 public final class CoreExceptions {
   public static CoreException error(Throwable cause) {
-    String message = cause.getMessage();
-    if (message == null) {
-      message = "";
-    }
+    String message = nullToEmpty(cause.getMessage());
     return new CoreException(new Status(ERROR, PLUGIN_ID, message, cause));
   }