diff --git a/hbase-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/http/jmx/JMXJsonServlet.java b/hbase-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/http/jmx/JMXJsonServlet.java
index db7c846fde56..d393187b1e43 100644
--- a/hbase-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/http/jmx/JMXJsonServlet.java
+++ b/hbase-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/http/jmx/JMXJsonServlet.java
@@ -171,8 +171,7 @@ public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) thro
         }
         beanWriter = this.jsonBeanWriter.open(writer);
         // Should we output description on each attribute and bean?
-        String tmpStr = request.getParameter(INCLUDE_DESCRIPTION);
-        boolean description = tmpStr != null && tmpStr.length() > 0;
+        boolean description = "true".equals(request.getParameter(INCLUDE_DESCRIPTION));
 
         // query per mbean attribute
         String getmethod = request.getParameter("get");