diff --git a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/cache/TypeInfo.java b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/cache/TypeInfo.java
index 9a078bbc9573..89624b0363fa 100644
--- a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/cache/TypeInfo.java
+++ b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/cache/TypeInfo.java
@@ -81,22 +81,18 @@ public class TypeInfo {
   private static final int HAS_ARRAY_COUNT = 0x40;
   private static final int HAS_ELLIPSIS = 0x80;
 
-  private static final TypeInfo NULL = new TypeInfo((StringRef)null, (byte)0, false, PsiAnnotationStub.EMPTY_ARRAY);
+  private static final TypeInfo NULL = new TypeInfo(null, (byte)0, false, PsiAnnotationStub.EMPTY_ARRAY);
 
-  public final StringRef text;
+  public final String text;
   public final byte arrayCount;
   public final boolean isEllipsis;
 
   private final PsiAnnotationStub[] myAnnotationStubs;
 
   public TypeInfo(String text, byte arrayCount, boolean ellipsis, @NotNull PsiAnnotationStub[] annotationStubs) {
-    this(StringRef.fromString(text == null ? null : internFrequentType(text)), arrayCount, ellipsis, annotationStubs);
-  }
-
-  private TypeInfo(StringRef text, byte arrayCount, boolean isEllipsis, @NotNull PsiAnnotationStub[] annotationStubs) {
-    this.text = text;
+    this.text = text == null ? null : internFrequentType(text);
     this.arrayCount = arrayCount;
-    this.isEllipsis = isEllipsis;
+    this.isEllipsis = ellipsis;
     myAnnotationStubs = annotationStubs;
   }
 
@@ -123,7 +119,7 @@ public class TypeInfo {
   @NotNull
   public String getShortTypeText() {
     if (text == null) return "";
-    String name = PsiNameHelper.getShortClassName(text.getString());
+    String name = PsiNameHelper.getShortClassName(text);
     if (arrayCount > 0) {
       name += StringUtil.repeat("[]", arrayCount);
     }
@@ -227,7 +223,7 @@ public class TypeInfo {
     byte arrayCount = isSet(flags, HAS_ARRAY_COUNT) ? record.readByte() : 0;
     boolean hasEllipsis = isSet(flags, HAS_ELLIPSIS);
 
-    StringRef text = frequentIndex == 0 ? record.readName() : StringRef.fromString(ourIndexFrequentType[frequentIndex]);
+    String text = frequentIndex == 0 ? StringRef.toString(record.readName()) : ourIndexFrequentType[frequentIndex];
 
     return new TypeInfo(text, arrayCount, hasEllipsis, PsiAnnotationStub.EMPTY_ARRAY);
   }
@@ -238,7 +234,7 @@ public class TypeInfo {
       return;
     }
 
-    String text = typeInfo.text.getString();
+    String text = typeInfo.text;
     byte arrayCount = typeInfo.arrayCount;
     int frequentIndex = ourFrequentTypeIndex.get(text);
     int flags = (typeInfo.isEllipsis ? HAS_ELLIPSIS : 0) | (arrayCount != 0 ? HAS_ARRAY_COUNT : 0) | frequentIndex;
@@ -259,7 +255,7 @@ public class TypeInfo {
       return null;
     }
     if (typeInfo.arrayCount == 0 && typeInfo.myAnnotationStubs.length == 0) {
-      return typeInfo.text.getString();
+      return typeInfo.text;
     }
 
     StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder();
@@ -268,7 +264,7 @@ public class TypeInfo {
       buf.append(stub.getText()).append(' ');
     }
 
-    buf.append(typeInfo.text.getString());
+    buf.append(typeInfo.text);
 
     int arrayCount = typeInfo.isEllipsis ? typeInfo.arrayCount - 1 : typeInfo.arrayCount;
     for (int i = 0; i < arrayCount; i++) {
diff --git a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/compiled/StubBuildingVisitor.java b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/compiled/StubBuildingVisitor.java
index bfa4bd5c5754..3a3704d9fd01 100644
--- a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/compiled/StubBuildingVisitor.java
+++ b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/compiled/StubBuildingVisitor.java
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import com.intellij.psi.stubs.PsiFileStub;
 import com.intellij.psi.stubs.StubElement;
 import com.intellij.util.ArrayUtil;
 import com.intellij.util.cls.ClsFormatException;
-import com.intellij.util.io.StringRef;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 import org.jetbrains.org.objectweb.asm.*;
@@ -344,7 +343,7 @@ public class StubBuildingVisitor<T> extends ClassVisitor {
 
     byte flags = PsiFieldStubImpl.packFlags((access & Opcodes.ACC_ENUM) != 0, (access & Opcodes.ACC_DEPRECATED) != 0, false, false);
     TypeInfo type = fieldType(desc, signature);
-    String initializer = constToString(value, type.text.getString(), false);
+    String initializer = constToString(value, type.text, false);
     PsiFieldStub stub = new PsiFieldStubImpl(myResult, name, type, initializer, flags);
     PsiModifierListStub modList = new PsiModifierListStubImpl(stub, packFieldFlags(access));
     return new AnnotationCollectingVisitor(modList);
@@ -412,9 +411,8 @@ public class StubBuildingVisitor<T> extends ClassVisitor {
     List<String> args = new ArrayList<String>();
     List<String> throwables = exceptions != null ? new ArrayList<String>() : null;
 
-    StringRef stringRef = StringRef.fromString(canonicalMethodName);
     int modifiersMask = packMethodFlags(access, myResult.isInterface());
-    PsiMethodStubImpl stub = new PsiMethodStubImpl(myResult, stringRef, flags, signature, args, throwables, desc, modifiersMask);
+    PsiMethodStubImpl stub = new PsiMethodStubImpl(myResult, canonicalMethodName, flags, signature, args, throwables, desc, modifiersMask);
 
     PsiModifierListStub modList = (PsiModifierListStub)stub.findChildStubByType(JavaStubElementTypes.MODIFIER_LIST);
     assert modList != null : stub;
diff --git a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/JavaMethodElementType.java b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/JavaMethodElementType.java
index c54166e0cfe3..4de4dbeec1f5 100644
--- a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/JavaMethodElementType.java
+++ b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/JavaMethodElementType.java
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ public abstract class JavaMethodElementType extends JavaStubElementType<PsiMetho
     boolean isAnno = (node.getTokenType() == JavaElementType.ANNOTATION_METHOD);
     byte flags = PsiMethodStubImpl.packFlags(isConstructor, isAnno, isVarArgs, isDeprecatedByComment, hasDeprecatedAnnotation, hasDocComment);
 
-    return new PsiMethodStubImpl(parentStub, StringRef.fromString(name), typeInfo, flags, StringRef.fromString(defValueText));
+    return new PsiMethodStubImpl(parentStub, name, typeInfo, flags, defValueText);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public abstract class JavaMethodElementType extends JavaStubElementType<PsiMetho
     final TypeInfo type = TypeInfo.readTYPE(dataStream);
     byte flags = dataStream.readByte();
     final StringRef defaultMethodValue = PsiMethodStubImpl.isAnnotationMethod(flags) ? dataStream.readName() : null;
-    return new PsiMethodStubImpl(parentStub, name, type, flags, defaultMethodValue);
+    return new PsiMethodStubImpl(parentStub, StringRef.toString(name), type, flags, StringRef.toString(defaultMethodValue));
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/impl/PsiMethodStubImpl.java b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/impl/PsiMethodStubImpl.java
index 94bc8102fd8c..b8c7f14930df 100644
--- a/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/impl/PsiMethodStubImpl.java
+++ b/java/java-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/java/stubs/impl/PsiMethodStubImpl.java
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ import com.intellij.psi.stubs.StubBase;
 import com.intellij.psi.stubs.StubElement;
 import com.intellij.util.BitUtil;
 import com.intellij.util.cls.ClsFormatException;
-import com.intellij.util.io.StringRef;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
@@ -39,8 +38,8 @@ import java.util.List;
 public class PsiMethodStubImpl extends StubBase<PsiMethod> implements PsiMethodStub {
   private final TypeInfo myReturnType;
   private final byte myFlags;
-  private final StringRef myName;
-  private StringRef myDefaultValueText;
+  private final String myName;
+  private String myDefaultValueText;
 
   private static final int CONSTRUCTOR = 0x01;
   private static final int VARARGS = 0x02;
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ public class PsiMethodStubImpl extends StubBase<PsiMethod> implements PsiMethodS
   private static final int HAS_DOC_COMMENT = 0x40;
 
   public PsiMethodStubImpl(StubElement parent,
-                           StringRef name,
+                           String name,
                            byte flags,
                            String signature,
                            @NotNull List<String> args,
@@ -81,7 +80,7 @@ public class PsiMethodStubImpl extends StubBase<PsiMethod> implements PsiMethodS
     myFlags = (byte)(flags | (parsedViaGenericSignature ? PARSED_VIA_GENERIC_SIGNATURE : 0));
   }
 
-  public PsiMethodStubImpl(StubElement parent, StringRef name, @NotNull TypeInfo returnType, byte flags, StringRef defaultValueText) {
+  public PsiMethodStubImpl(StubElement parent, String name, @NotNull TypeInfo returnType, byte flags, @Nullable String defaultValueText) {
     super(parent, isAnnotationMethod(flags) ? JavaStubElementTypes.ANNOTATION_METHOD : JavaStubElementTypes.METHOD);
     myReturnType = returnType;
     myFlags = flags;
@@ -114,7 +113,7 @@ public class PsiMethodStubImpl extends StubBase<PsiMethod> implements PsiMethodS
 
   @Override
   public String getDefaultValueText() {
-    return StringRef.toString(myDefaultValueText);
+    return myDefaultValueText;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@ public class PsiMethodStubImpl extends StubBase<PsiMethod> implements PsiMethodS
 
   @Override
   public String getName() {
-    return StringRef.toString(myName);
+    return myName;
   }
 
   public byte getFlags() {
@@ -166,7 +165,7 @@ public class PsiMethodStubImpl extends StubBase<PsiMethod> implements PsiMethodS
   }
 
   public void setDefaultValueText(final String defaultValueText) {
-    myDefaultValueText = StringRef.fromString(defaultValueText);
+    myDefaultValueText = defaultValueText;
   }
 
   public static byte packFlags(boolean isConstructor,
diff --git a/platform/core-api/src/com/intellij/psi/stubs/StubInputStream.java b/platform/core-api/src/com/intellij/psi/stubs/StubInputStream.java
index 0023263c821c..b351575d015e 100644
--- a/platform/core-api/src/com/intellij/psi/stubs/StubInputStream.java
+++ b/platform/core-api/src/com/intellij/psi/stubs/StubInputStream.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package com.intellij.psi.stubs;
 
 import com.intellij.util.io.*;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
+import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
 import java.io.DataInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -35,10 +36,12 @@ public class StubInputStream extends DataInputStream {
     myNameStorage = nameStorage;
   }
 
+  @NotNull 
   public String readUTFFast() throws IOException {
     return IOUtil.readUTFFast(myStringIOBuffer, this);
   }
 
+  @Nullable 
   public StringRef readName() throws IOException {
     return DataInputOutputUtil.readNAME(this, myNameStorage);
   }
diff --git a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/io/DataInputOutputUtil.java b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/io/DataInputOutputUtil.java
index e4a1f5c10a45..5311608a7dc9 100644
--- a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/io/DataInputOutputUtil.java
+++ b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/util/io/DataInputOutputUtil.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ public class DataInputOutputUtil {
 
   private DataInputOutputUtil() {}
 
+  @Nullable 
   public static StringRef readNAME(@NotNull DataInput record, @NotNull AbstractStringEnumerator nameStore) throws IOException {
     return StringRef.fromStream(record, nameStore);
   }