diff --git a/xmerge/java/org/openoffice/xmerge/converter/xml/sxc/pexcel/records/formula/FormulaParser.java b/xmerge/java/org/openoffice/xmerge/converter/xml/sxc/pexcel/records/formula/FormulaParser.java
index a0be217a1080..c3b399716fc3 100644
--- a/xmerge/java/org/openoffice/xmerge/converter/xml/sxc/pexcel/records/formula/FormulaParser.java
+++ b/xmerge/java/org/openoffice/xmerge/converter/xml/sxc/pexcel/records/formula/FormulaParser.java
@@ -116,23 +116,6 @@ public class FormulaParser {
         return tokenVector;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Identify white spaces (ie. spaces or tab)
-     *
-     * @param  The character which is to be identified
-     * @return A boolean returning the result of the comparison
-     */
-    private boolean isWhite(char c) {
-
-         boolean eq;
-
-         if(c==' ' | c=='\t')
-             eq = true;
-         else
-             eq = false;
-         return eq;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Identify + and - operators
      *
@@ -305,7 +288,7 @@ public class FormulaParser {
 
          boolean success = true;
 
-         while(isWhite(look) && success) {
+         while(Character.isWhitespace(look) && success) {
              success = getChar();
          }
      }