diff --git a/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/MeterpreterTest.java b/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/MeterpreterTest.java
index 2ac1ff47..f88ceb83 100644
--- a/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/MeterpreterTest.java
+++ b/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/MeterpreterTest.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ public class MeterpreterTest extends TestCase {
         Assert.assertEquals(4096, uc.getContentLength());
         ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
         StreamForwarder.forward(uc.getInputStream(), out);
-        Assert.assertEquals(new String(randomData, "ISO-8859-1"), new String(out.toByteArray(), "ISO-8859-1"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(new String(randomData, "ISO-8859-1"), out.toString("ISO-8859-1"));
     }
 
     public void testMeterpreterStage() throws Exception {
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class MeterpreterTest extends TestCase {
         ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
         DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(baos);
         StreamForwarder.forward(MeterpDummy.class.getResourceAsStream(MeterpDummy.class.getSimpleName() + ".class"), baos);
-        String meterpDummy = new String(baos.toByteArray(), "ISO-8859-1").replace("MeterpDummy", "Meterpreter");
+        String meterpDummy = baos.toString("ISO-8859-1").replace("MeterpDummy", "Meterpreter");
         baos.reset();
         JarOutputStream jos = new JarOutputStream(baos);
         jos.putNextEntry(new ZipEntry("com/metasploit/meterpreter/Meterpreter.class"));
diff --git a/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/ShellTest.java b/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/ShellTest.java
index 5ff0ae28..9ba96e8f 100644
--- a/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/ShellTest.java
+++ b/java/javapayload/src/test/java/javapayload/stage/ShellTest.java
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ public class ShellTest extends TestCase {
             Thread.sleep(100);
             timeout -= 100;
         }
-        String shellOutput = new String(out.toByteArray(), "ISO-8859-1");
+        String shellOutput = out.toString("ISO-8859-1");
 //        Assert.assertTrue("MagicToken missing in shell output: " + shellOutput, shellOutput.contains("MagicToken"));
 //        Assert.assertEquals(-1, in.read());
     }
diff --git a/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_machine_id.java b/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_machine_id.java
index cc7e2cce..2950d37b 100644
--- a/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_machine_id.java
+++ b/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_machine_id.java
@@ -17,11 +17,10 @@ public class core_machine_id implements Command {
     private static String machine_id;
 
     private String getSerial() throws IOException {
-        StringBuffer stringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
-        stringBuffer.append(Utils.runCommand("getprop ro.serialno").trim());
-        stringBuffer.append(Utils.runCommand("getprop ro.product.brand").trim());
-        stringBuffer.append(Utils.runCommand("getprop ro.product.model").trim());
-        return stringBuffer.toString();
+        String stringBuffer = Utils.runCommand("getprop ro.serialno").trim() +
+                Utils.runCommand("getprop ro.product.brand").trim() +
+                Utils.runCommand("getprop ro.product.model").trim();
+        return stringBuffer;
     }
 
     private String getHDLabel() {
diff --git a/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_transport_add.java b/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_transport_add.java
index eae3be62..2ec2244a 100644
--- a/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_transport_add.java
+++ b/java/meterpreter/meterpreter/src/main/java/com/metasploit/meterpreter/core/core_transport_add.java
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ public class core_transport_add implements Command {
             HttpTransport h = new HttpTransport(meterpreter, transportUrl);
 
             // do the HTTP specific stuff here, since we know what we are
-            h.setUserAgent(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_UA, new String()));
-            h.setProxy(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_PROXY_HOST, new String()));
-            h.setProxyUser(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_PROXY_USER, new String()));
-            h.setProxyPass(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_PROXY_PASS, new String()));
+            h.setUserAgent(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_UA, ""));
+            h.setProxy(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_PROXY_HOST, ""));
+            h.setProxyUser(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_PROXY_USER, ""));
+            h.setProxyPass(request.getStringValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_PROXY_PASS, ""));
             h.setCertHash(request.getRawValue(TLVType.TLV_TYPE_TRANS_CERT_HASH, null));
 
             t = h;