diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotatedElementUtils.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotatedElementUtils.java
index 2766e07066..74549cf2f4 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotatedElementUtils.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotatedElementUtils.java
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ public class AnnotatedElementUtils {
 	 */
 	public static <A extends Annotation> A getMergedAnnotation(AnnotatedElement element, Class<A> annotationType) {
 		AnnotationAttributes attributes = getMergedAnnotationAttributes(element, annotationType);
-		return (attributes != null ? AnnotationUtils.synthesizeAnnotation(attributes, annotationType, element) : null);
+		return AnnotationUtils.synthesizeAnnotation(attributes, annotationType, element);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -401,8 +401,7 @@ public class AnnotatedElementUtils {
 	public static <A extends Annotation> A findMergedAnnotation(AnnotatedElement element, Class<A> annotationType) {
 		Assert.notNull(annotationType, "annotationType must not be null");
 		AnnotationAttributes attributes = findMergedAnnotationAttributes(element, annotationType, false, false);
-		return (attributes != null ?
-				AnnotationUtils.synthesizeAnnotation(attributes, annotationType, element) : null);
+		return AnnotationUtils.synthesizeAnnotation(attributes, annotationType, element);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -429,8 +428,7 @@ public class AnnotatedElementUtils {
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	public static <A extends Annotation> A findMergedAnnotation(AnnotatedElement element, String annotationName) {
 		AnnotationAttributes attributes = findMergedAnnotationAttributes(element, annotationName, false, false);
-		return (attributes != null ?
-				AnnotationUtils.synthesizeAnnotation(attributes, (Class<A>) attributes.annotationType(), element) : null);
+		return AnnotationUtils.synthesizeAnnotation(attributes, (Class<A>) attributes.annotationType(), element);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java
index fda4d2a16a..6d470ae88e 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/StringUtils.java
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ public abstract class StringUtils {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Extract the filename from the given path,
+	 * Extract the filename from the given Java resource path,
 	 * e.g. {@code "mypath/myfile.txt" -> "myfile.txt"}.
 	 * @param path the file path (may be {@code null})
 	 * @return the extracted filename, or {@code null} if none
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ public abstract class StringUtils {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Extract the filename extension from the given path,
+	 * Extract the filename extension from the given Java resource path,
 	 * e.g. "mypath/myfile.txt" -> "txt".
 	 * @param path the file path (may be {@code null})
 	 * @return the extracted filename extension, or {@code null} if none
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ public abstract class StringUtils {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Strip the filename extension from the given path,
+	 * Strip the filename extension from the given Java resource path,
 	 * e.g. "mypath/myfile.txt" -> "mypath/myfile".
 	 * @param path the file path (may be {@code null})
 	 * @return the path with stripped filename extension,
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ public abstract class StringUtils {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Apply the given relative path to the given path,
+	 * Apply the given relative path to the given Java resource path,
 	 * assuming standard Java folder separation (i.e. "/" separators).
 	 * @param path the path to start from (usually a full file path)
 	 * @param relativePath the relative path to apply