diff --git a/JSONML.java b/JSONML.java
index 5325cff..d29be71 100755
--- a/JSONML.java
+++ b/JSONML.java
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ public class JSONML {
 // attribute = value
 
                         attribute = (String)token;
-                        if (!arrayForm && (attribute.equals("tagName") || attribute.equals("childNode"))) {
+                        if (!arrayForm && ("tagName".equals(attribute) || "childNode".equals(attribute))) {
                             throw x.syntaxError("Reserved attribute.");
                         }
                         token = x.nextToken();