diff --git a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/InspectionGadgetsBundle.properties b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/InspectionGadgetsBundle.properties
index 772bb038de76..0a5dec378b4c 100644
--- a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/InspectionGadgetsBundle.properties
+++ b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/InspectionGadgetsBundle.properties
@@ -1397,7 +1397,7 @@ format.decode.date.time=Date/Time
 format.decode.char=char
 format.decode.integer.type=integer type
 format.decode.floating.point=floating point
-single.character.startswith.quickfix=Replace with 'charAt()'
+single.character.startswith.quickfix=Replace with 'charAt()' expression
 interface.never.implemented.option=Ignore interfaces which only declare constants
 size.replaceable.by.isempty.display.name='size() == 0' replaceable with 'isEmpty()'
 size.replaceable.by.isempty.quickfix=Replace with 'isEmpty()'
diff --git a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/ig/j2me/SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection.java b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/ig/j2me/SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection.java
index 1f43425d4bfd..ce52c33282d4 100644
--- a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/ig/j2me/SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection.java
+++ b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/InspectionGadgetsAnalysis/src/com/siyeh/ig/j2me/SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import com.siyeh.ig.BaseInspection;
 import com.siyeh.ig.BaseInspectionVisitor;
 import com.siyeh.ig.InspectionGadgetsFix;
 import com.siyeh.ig.PsiReplacementUtil;
+import com.siyeh.ig.psiutils.ClassUtils;
 import com.siyeh.ig.psiutils.CommentTracker;
 import com.siyeh.ig.psiutils.TypeUtils;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NonNls;
@@ -52,8 +53,7 @@ public class SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection extends BaseInspection {
     return new SingleCharacterStartsWithFix();
   }
 
-  private static class SingleCharacterStartsWithFix
-    extends InspectionGadgetsFix {
+  private static class SingleCharacterStartsWithFix extends InspectionGadgetsFix {
 
     @Override
     @NotNull
@@ -65,10 +65,8 @@ public class SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection extends BaseInspection {
     @Override
     protected void doFix(Project project, ProblemDescriptor descriptor) {
       final PsiElement element = descriptor.getPsiElement();
-      final PsiReferenceExpression methodExpression =
-        (PsiReferenceExpression)element.getParent();
-      final PsiMethodCallExpression methodCall =
-        (PsiMethodCallExpression)methodExpression.getParent();
+      final PsiReferenceExpression methodExpression = (PsiReferenceExpression)element.getParent();
+      final PsiMethodCallExpression methodCall = (PsiMethodCallExpression)methodExpression.getParent();
       final PsiElement qualifier = methodExpression.getQualifier();
       if (qualifier == null) {
         return;
@@ -77,26 +75,33 @@ public class SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection extends BaseInspection {
       final PsiExpression[] expressions = argumentList.getExpressions();
       final PsiExpression expression = expressions[0];
       final String expressionText = expression.getText();
-      String character = expressionText.substring(1,
-                                                  expressionText.length() - 1);
+      String character = expressionText.substring(1, expressionText.length() - 1);
       if (character.equals("'")) {
         character = "\\'";
       }
       final String qualifierText = qualifier.getText();
-      @NonNls final String newExpression;
-      final String referenceName = methodExpression.getReferenceName();
-      if (HardcodedMethodConstants.STARTS_WITH.equals(referenceName)) {
-        newExpression = qualifierText + ".length() > 0 && " +
-                        qualifierText + ".charAt(0) == '" + character + '\'';
+      @NonNls final StringBuilder newExpression = new StringBuilder();
+      final PsiClass stringClass = ClassUtils.findClass(CommonClassNames.JAVA_LANG_STRING, qualifier);
+      // String.isEmpty() was introduced in Java 6
+      final PsiMethod[] isEmptyMethod = (stringClass == null) ? PsiMethod.EMPTY_ARRAY : stringClass.findMethodsByName("isEmpty", false);
+      if (isEmptyMethod.length > 0) {
+        newExpression.append("!").append(qualifierText).append(".isEmpty() && ");
       }
       else {
-        newExpression = qualifierText + ".length() > 0 && " +
-                        qualifierText + ".charAt(" + qualifierText +
-                        ".length() - 1) == '" + character + '\'';
+        newExpression.append(qualifierText).append(".length() > 0 && ");
       }
-      CommentTracker commentTracker = new CommentTracker();
+      final String referenceName = methodExpression.getReferenceName();
+      newExpression.append(qualifierText).append(".charAt(");
+      if (HardcodedMethodConstants.STARTS_WITH.equals(referenceName)) {
+        newExpression.append("0) == '");
+      }
+      else {
+        newExpression.append(qualifierText).append(".length() - 1) == '");
+      }
+      newExpression.append(character).append('\'');
+      final CommentTracker commentTracker = new CommentTracker();
       commentTracker.markUnchanged(qualifier);
-      PsiReplacementUtil.replaceExpression(methodCall, newExpression, commentTracker);
+      PsiReplacementUtil.replaceExpression(methodCall, newExpression.toString(), commentTracker);
     }
   }
 
@@ -109,11 +114,9 @@ public class SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection extends BaseInspection {
     extends BaseInspectionVisitor {
 
     @Override
-    public void visitMethodCallExpression(
-      @NotNull PsiMethodCallExpression call) {
+    public void visitMethodCallExpression(@NotNull PsiMethodCallExpression call) {
       super.visitMethodCallExpression(call);
-      final PsiReferenceExpression methodExpression =
-        call.getMethodExpression();
+      final PsiReferenceExpression methodExpression = call.getMethodExpression();
       final String methodName = methodExpression.getReferenceName();
       if (!HardcodedMethodConstants.STARTS_WITH.equals(methodName) &&
           !HardcodedMethodConstants.ENDS_WITH.equals(methodName)) {
@@ -127,8 +130,7 @@ public class SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection extends BaseInspection {
       if (!isSingleCharacterStringLiteral(args[0])) {
         return;
       }
-      final PsiExpression qualifier =
-        methodExpression.getQualifierExpression();
+      final PsiExpression qualifier = methodExpression.getQualifierExpression();
       if (qualifier == null) {
         return;
       }
@@ -139,8 +141,7 @@ public class SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection extends BaseInspection {
       registerMethodCallError(call);
     }
 
-    private static boolean isSingleCharacterStringLiteral(
-      PsiExpression arg) {
+    private static boolean isSingleCharacterStringLiteral(PsiExpression arg) {
       final PsiType type = arg.getType();
       if (!TypeUtils.isJavaLangString(type)) {
         return false;
@@ -150,10 +151,7 @@ public class SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection extends BaseInspection {
       }
       final PsiLiteralExpression literal = (PsiLiteralExpression)arg;
       final String value = (String)literal.getValue();
-      if (value == null) {
-        return false;
-      }
-      return value.length() == 1;
+      return value != null && value.length() == 1;
     }
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseIsEmptyMethod.after.java b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseIsEmptyMethod.after.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f6c23f6d567e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseIsEmptyMethod.after.java
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class useisEmptyMethod {
+
+  boolean x(String s) {
+    return !s.isEmpty() && s.charAt(0) == 'x';
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseIsEmptyMethod.java b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseIsEmptyMethod.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fd621ef8c880
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseIsEmptyMethod.java
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class useisEmptyMethod {
+
+  boolean x(String s) {
+    return s.<warning descr="Single character 'startsWith()' could be replaced with 'charAt()' expression"><caret>startsWith</warning>("x");
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseLengthMethod.after.java b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseLengthMethod.after.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..708b2e92c77a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseLengthMethod.after.java
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class UseLengthMethod {
+
+  boolean x(String s) {
+    return s.length() > 0 && s.charAt(0) == 'x';
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseLengthMethod.java b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseLengthMethod.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5cbdc64e16ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with/UseLengthMethod.java
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+class UseLengthMethod {
+
+  boolean x(String s) {
+    return s.<warning descr="Single character 'startsWith()' could be replaced with 'charAt()' expression"><caret>startsWith</warning>("x");
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/plugins/InspectionGadgets/testsrc/com/siyeh/ig/fixes/j2me/SingleCharacterStartsWithLengthTest.kt b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/testsrc/com/siyeh/ig/fixes/j2me/SingleCharacterStartsWithLengthTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e45a59b34373
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/InspectionGadgets/testsrc/com/siyeh/ig/fixes/j2me/SingleCharacterStartsWithLengthTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+// Copyright 2000-2018 JetBrains s.r.o. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+package com.siyeh.ig.fixes.j2me
+
+import com.intellij.testFramework.fixtures.LightCodeInsightFixtureTestCase
+import com.siyeh.InspectionGadgetsBundle
+import com.siyeh.ig.j2me.SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection
+
+/**
+ * @author Bas Leijdekkers
+ */
+class SingleCharacterStartsWithLengthTest : SingleCharacterStartsWithFixTestCase() {
+
+  fun testUseLengthMethod() = quickfixTest()
+
+  override fun getProjectDescriptor() = JAVA_1_4
+}
+class SingleCharacterStartsWithIsEmptyTest : SingleCharacterStartsWithFixTestCase() {
+
+  fun testUseIsEmptyMethod() = quickfixTest();
+
+  override fun getProjectDescriptor() = JAVA_1_6
+}
+open class SingleCharacterStartsWithFixTestCase : LightCodeInsightFixtureTestCase() {
+
+  protected fun quickfixTest() {
+    myFixture.enableInspections(SingleCharacterStartsWithInspection())
+    myFixture.configureByFile(getTestName(false) + ".java")
+    myFixture.testHighlighting()
+    myFixture.launchAction(myFixture.findSingleIntention(InspectionGadgetsBundle.message("single.character.startswith.quickfix")))
+    myFixture.checkResultByFile(getTestName(false) + ".after.java")
+  }
+
+  override fun getBasePath() = "/plugins/InspectionGadgets/test/com/siyeh/igfixes/j2me/single_character_starts_with"
+}
\ No newline at end of file