diff --git a/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ClusterMetadataManager.java b/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ClusterMetadataManager.java
index ce85758..416bbf14 100644
--- a/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ClusterMetadataManager.java
+++ b/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ClusterMetadataManager.java
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
         String metadataUri = System.getProperty("onos.cluster.metadata.uri");
         try {
             String protocol = metadataUri == null ? null : new URL(metadataUri).getProtocol();
-            if (protocol != null && (!protocol.equals("file") && !protocol.equals("http"))) {
+            if (!"file".equals(protocol) && !"http".equals(protocol)) {
                 return getProvider(protocol);
             }
             // file provider supports both "file" and "http" uris
diff --git a/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ConfigFileBasedClusterMetadataProvider.java b/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ConfigFileBasedClusterMetadataProvider.java
index 6db0365..706e286 100644
--- a/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ConfigFileBasedClusterMetadataProvider.java
+++ b/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/ConfigFileBasedClusterMetadataProvider.java
@@ -166,10 +166,10 @@
     public boolean isAvailable() {
         try {
             URL url = new URL(metadataUrl);
-            if (url.getProtocol().equals("file")) {
+            if ("file".equals(url.getProtocol())) {
                 File file = new File(metadataUrl.replaceFirst("file://", ""));
                 return file.exists();
-            } else if (url.getProtocol().equals("http")) {
+            } else if ("http".equals(url.getProtocol())) {
                 try (InputStream file = url.openStream()) {
                     return true;
                 }
@@ -188,11 +188,11 @@
             URL url = new URL(metadataUrl);
             ClusterMetadata metadata = null;
             long version = 0;
-            if (url.getProtocol().equals("file")) {
+            if ("file".equals(url.getProtocol())) {
                 File file = new File(metadataUrl.replaceFirst("file://", ""));
                 version = file.lastModified();
                 metadata = mapper.readValue(new FileInputStream(file), ClusterMetadata.class);
-            } else if (url.getProtocol().equals("http")) {
+            } else if ("http".equals(url.getProtocol())) {
                 URLConnection conn = url.openConnection();
                 version = conn.getLastModified();
                 metadata = mapper.readValue(conn.getInputStream(), ClusterMetadata.class);
diff --git a/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/MastershipManager.java b/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/MastershipManager.java
index ae9dc16..c36ad62 100644
--- a/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/MastershipManager.java
+++ b/core/net/src/main/java/org/onosproject/cluster/impl/MastershipManager.java
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
     public void modified() {
         Set<ConfigProperty> configProperties = cfgService.getProperties(getClass().getCanonicalName());
         for (ConfigProperty property : configProperties) {
-            if (property.name().equals("useRegionForBalanceRoles")) {
+            if ("useRegionForBalanceRoles".equals(property.name())) {
                 useRegionForBalanceRoles = property.asBoolean();
             }
         }