Use isEmpty().
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/configuration2/convert/PropertyConverter.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/configuration2/convert/PropertyConverter.java
index efd2a11..d878db6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/configuration2/convert/PropertyConverter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/configuration2/convert/PropertyConverter.java
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@
             final String[] elements = ((String) value).split("_");
             final int size = elements.length;
 
-            if (size >= 1 && (elements[0].length() == 2 || elements[0].length() == 0))
+            if (size >= 1 && (elements[0].length() == 2 || elements[0].isEmpty()))
             {
                 final String language = elements[0];
                 final String country = size >= 2 ? elements[1] : "";