diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/AbstractPmdReport.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/AbstractPmdReport.java
index 0142f2d3..e3969c81 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/AbstractPmdReport.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/AbstractPmdReport.java
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ protected String constructXRefLocation(boolean test) {
 
             String relativePath =
                     PathTool.getRelativePath(outputDirectory.getAbsolutePath(), xrefLoc.getAbsolutePath());
-            if (StringUtils.isEmpty(relativePath)) {
+            if (relativePath == null || relativePath.isEmpty()) {
                 relativePath = ".";
             }
             relativePath = relativePath + "/" + xrefLoc.getName();
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeDuplicationsFromFile.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeDuplicationsFromFile.java
index 20bc52dd..fc2be596 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeDuplicationsFromFile.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeDuplicationsFromFile.java
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.Mark;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.Match;
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.pmd.model.CpdFile;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.pmd.model.Duplication;
@@ -99,7 +98,7 @@ private boolean fileExcludedByGroup(final String path, final Set<String> singleE
 
     @Override
     public void loadExcludeFromFailuresData(final String excludeFromFailureFile) throws MojoExecutionException {
-        if (StringUtils.isEmpty(excludeFromFailureFile)) {
+        if (excludeFromFailureFile == null || excludeFromFailureFile.isEmpty()) {
             return;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeViolationsFromFile.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeViolationsFromFile.java
index 13981b3f..38919a48 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeViolationsFromFile.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/ExcludeViolationsFromFile.java
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.RuleViolation;
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.pmd.model.Violation;
 
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ public class ExcludeViolationsFromFile implements ExcludeFromFile<Violation> {
 
     @Override
     public void loadExcludeFromFailuresData(final String excludeFromFailureFile) throws MojoExecutionException {
-        if (StringUtils.isEmpty(excludeFromFailureFile)) {
+        if (excludeFromFailureFile == null || excludeFromFailureFile.isEmpty()) {
             return;
         }
 
@@ -107,9 +106,9 @@ private boolean isExcludedFromFailure(String className, String ruleName) {
     private String extractClassName(String packageName, String className, String fullPath) {
         // for some reason, some violations don't contain the package name, so we have to guess the full class name
         // this looks like a bug in PMD - at least for UnusedImport rule.
-        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(packageName) && StringUtils.isNotEmpty(className)) {
+        if (packageName != null && !packageName.isEmpty() && className != null && !className.isEmpty()) {
             return packageName + "." + className;
-        } else if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(packageName)) {
+        } else if (packageName != null && !packageName.isEmpty()) {
             String fileName = fullPath;
             fileName = fileName.substring(fileName.lastIndexOf(File.separatorChar) + 1);
             fileName = fileName.substring(0, fileName.length() - 5);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/PmdViolationCheckMojo.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/PmdViolationCheckMojo.java
index 45d63537..2fcb1b37 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/PmdViolationCheckMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/pmd/PmdViolationCheckMojo.java
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.pmd.model.PmdFile;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.pmd.model.Violation;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.pmd.model.io.xpp3.PmdXpp3Reader;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
 
 /**
@@ -143,7 +142,7 @@ protected ViolationDetails<Violation> newViolationDetailsInstance() {
     private String getFilename(String fullpath, String pkg) {
         int index = fullpath.lastIndexOf(File.separatorChar);
 
-        while (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(pkg)) {
+        while (pkg != null && !pkg.isEmpty()) {
             index = fullpath.substring(0, index).lastIndexOf(File.separatorChar);
 
             int dot = pkg.indexOf('.');