diff --git a/cloudslang-runtime/src/main/java/io/cloudslang/lang/runtime/steps/ActionExecutionData.java b/cloudslang-runtime/src/main/java/io/cloudslang/lang/runtime/steps/ActionExecutionData.java
index edcbb4d5a..90b2dddaf 100644
--- a/cloudslang-runtime/src/main/java/io/cloudslang/lang/runtime/steps/ActionExecutionData.java
+++ b/cloudslang-runtime/src/main/java/io/cloudslang/lang/runtime/steps/ActionExecutionData.java
@@ -210,10 +210,13 @@ private Map<String, Value> runJavaAction(Map<String, SerializableSessionObject>
         }
 
         final Serializable exception = returnMap.get(EXCEPTION);
-        // some java actions contain the exception key without having an actual exception
-        // this is because some actions have the output field named as "errorMessage", others "exception"
-        if (exception != null && StringUtils.isNotEmpty(exception.toString())) {
-            logException(exception.toString());
+        if (exception != null) {
+            // some java actions contain the exception key without having an actual exception
+            // this is because some actions have the output field named as "errorMessage", others "exception"
+            String exceptionMessage = exception.toString();
+            if (!exceptionMessage.isEmpty()) {
+                logException(exceptionMessage);
+            }
         }
 
         return handleSensitiveValues(returnMap, currentContext);