diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/NullableUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/NullableUtils.java
index 5ff82a663e..2da0761969 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/NullableUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/NullableUtils.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.MergedAnnotations;
 import org.springframework.lang.NonNullApi;
 import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
+import org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.MultiValueMap;
 
 /**
@@ -234,7 +235,7 @@ private static <T> boolean test(Annotation annotation, String metaAnnotationName
 		MultiValueMap<String, @Nullable Object> attributes = AnnotatedElementUtils
 				.getAllAnnotationAttributes(annotation.annotationType(), metaAnnotationName);
 
-		if (attributes.isEmpty()) {
+		if (CollectionUtils.isEmpty(attributes)) {
 			return false;
 		}