diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequence.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequence.java
index 896c45561b1..9d5b05fe25f 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequence.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequence.java
@@ -111,20 +111,20 @@ final class StringSequence implements CharSequence {
 		if (this == obj) {
 			return true;
 		}
-		if (obj == null || !CharSequence.class.isInstance(obj)) {
+		if (!(obj instanceof CharSequence)) {
 			return false;
 		}
 		CharSequence other = (CharSequence) obj;
 		int n = length();
-		if (n == other.length()) {
-			int i = 0;
-			while (n-- != 0) {
-				if (charAt(i) != other.charAt(i)) {
-					return false;
-				}
-				i++;
+		if (n != other.length()) {
+			return false;
+		}
+		int i = 0;
+		while (n-- != 0) {
+			if (charAt(i) != other.charAt(i)) {
+				return false;
 			}
-			return true;
+			i++;
 		}
 		return true;
 	}
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequenceTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequenceTests.java
index b3a9b113d93..ab783fac4fc 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequenceTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/jar/StringSequenceTests.java
@@ -162,6 +162,13 @@ public class StringSequenceTests {
 		assertThat(a).isEqualTo(b).isNotEqualTo(c);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void notEqualsWhenSequencesOfDifferentLength() {
+		StringSequence a = new StringSequence("abcd");
+		StringSequence b = new StringSequence("ef");
+		assertThat(a).isNotEqualTo(b);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void startsWithWhenExactMatch() {
 		assertThat(new StringSequence("abc").startsWith("abc")).isTrue();