diff --git a/src/generic/dirctrlg.cpp b/src/generic/dirctrlg.cpp
index 44981df672..f0c84581cc 100644
--- a/src/generic/dirctrlg.cpp
+++ b/src/generic/dirctrlg.cpp
@@ -936,7 +936,7 @@ bool wxGenericDirCtrl::ExpandPath(const wxString& path)
         {
             data = GetItemData(childId);
 
-            if (data && data->m_path != wxEmptyString && !data->m_isDir)
+            if (data && !data->m_path.empty() && !data->m_isDir)
             {
                 m_treeCtrl->SelectItem(childId);
                 m_treeCtrl->EnsureVisible(childId);
diff --git a/src/generic/grid.cpp b/src/generic/grid.cpp
index 594aea10bc..64b2113ebf 100644
--- a/src/generic/grid.cpp
+++ b/src/generic/grid.cpp
@@ -6359,7 +6359,7 @@ void wxGrid::ShowCellEditControl()
             // resize editor to overflow into righthand cells if allowed
             int maxWidth = rect.width;
             wxString value = GetCellValue(row, col);
-            if ( (value != wxEmptyString) && (attr->GetOverflow()) )
+            if ( !value.empty() && attr->GetOverflow() )
             {
                 int y;
                 GetTextExtent(value, &maxWidth, &y, NULL, NULL, &attr->GetFont());
diff --git a/src/generic/tipdlg.cpp b/src/generic/tipdlg.cpp
index 028a374de6..1e45bd5ea6 100644
--- a/src/generic/tipdlg.cpp
+++ b/src/generic/tipdlg.cpp
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ wxString wxFileTipProvider::GetTip()
 
         // Break if tip isn't a comment, and isn't an empty string
         // (or only stray space characters).
-        if ( !tip.StartsWith(wxT("#")) && (tip.Trim() != wxEmptyString) )
+        if ( !tip.StartsWith(wxT("#")) && !tip.Trim().empty() )
         {
             break;
         }
diff --git a/src/html/helpdata.cpp b/src/html/helpdata.cpp
index d257bec45e..e5312bbadd 100644
--- a/src/html/helpdata.cpp
+++ b/src/html/helpdata.cpp
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ bool wxHtmlHelpData::AddBook(const wxString& book)
 
     wxFontEncoding enc = wxFONTENCODING_SYSTEM;
 #if wxUSE_FONTMAP
-    if (charset != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!charset.empty())
         enc = wxFontMapper::Get()->CharsetToEncoding(charset);
 #endif
 
@@ -807,7 +807,7 @@ wxHtmlSearchStatus::wxHtmlSearchStatus(wxHtmlHelpData* data, const wxString& key
     m_Data = data;
     m_Keyword = keyword;
     wxHtmlBookRecord* bookr = NULL;
-    if (book != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!book.empty())
     {
         // we have to search in a specific book. Find it first
         int i, cnt = data->m_bookRecords.GetCount();
diff --git a/src/html/helpwnd.cpp b/src/html/helpwnd.cpp
index 262904486f..f68b485cea 100644
--- a/src/html/helpwnd.cpp
+++ b/src/html/helpwnd.cpp
@@ -1073,7 +1073,7 @@ void wxHtmlHelpWindow::ReadCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, const wxString& path
     wxString oldpath;
     wxString tmp;
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
     {
         oldpath = cfg->GetPath();
         cfg->SetPath(wxT("/") + path);
@@ -1122,7 +1122,7 @@ void wxHtmlHelpWindow::ReadCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, const wxString& path
     if (m_HtmlWin)
         m_HtmlWin->ReadCustomization(cfg);
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
         cfg->SetPath(oldpath);
 }
 
@@ -1131,7 +1131,7 @@ void wxHtmlHelpWindow::WriteCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, const wxString& pat
     wxString oldpath;
     wxString tmp;
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
     {
         oldpath = cfg->GetPath();
         cfg->SetPath(wxT("/") + path);
@@ -1170,7 +1170,7 @@ void wxHtmlHelpWindow::WriteCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, const wxString& pat
     if (m_HtmlWin)
         m_HtmlWin->WriteCustomization(cfg);
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
         cfg->SetPath(oldpath);
 }
 #endif // wxUSE_CONFIG
@@ -1495,7 +1495,7 @@ void wxHtmlHelpWindow::OnToolbar(wxCommandEvent& event)
 
                 item = m_HtmlWin->GetOpenedPageTitle();
                 url = m_HtmlWin->GetOpenedPage();
-                if (item == wxEmptyString)
+                if (item.empty())
                     item = url.AfterLast(wxT('/'));
                 if (m_BookmarksPages.Index(url) == wxNOT_FOUND)
                 {
@@ -1612,7 +1612,7 @@ void wxHtmlHelpWindow::DoIndexFind()
 {
     wxString sr = m_IndexText->GetLineText(0);
     sr.MakeLower();
-    if (sr == wxEmptyString)
+    if (sr.empty())
     {
         DoIndexAll();
     }
diff --git a/src/html/htmlcell.cpp b/src/html/htmlcell.cpp
index 6000a004c8..bf16620db8 100644
--- a/src/html/htmlcell.cpp
+++ b/src/html/htmlcell.cpp
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ wxHtmlCell::AdjustPagebreak(int *pagebreak,
 void wxHtmlCell::SetLink(const wxHtmlLinkInfo& link)
 {
     wxDELETE(m_Link);
-    if (link.GetHref() != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!link.GetHref().empty())
         m_Link = new wxHtmlLinkInfo(link);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/html/htmlwin.cpp b/src/html/htmlwin.cpp
index 5d2e2a3bd8..9ae6d0df8e 100644
--- a/src/html/htmlwin.cpp
+++ b/src/html/htmlwin.cpp
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ bool wxHtmlWindow::LoadPage(const wxString& location)
                 }
                 node = node->GetNext();
             }
-            if (src == wxEmptyString)
+            if (src.empty())
             {
                 if (m_DefaultFilter == NULL) m_DefaultFilter = GetDefaultFilter();
                 src = m_DefaultFilter->ReadFile(*f);
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ bool wxHtmlWindow::LoadPage(const wxString& location)
             m_FS->ChangePathTo(f->GetLocation());
             rt_val = SetPage(src);
             m_OpenedPage = f->GetLocation();
-            if (f->GetAnchor() != wxEmptyString)
+            if (!f->GetAnchor().empty())
             {
                 ScrollToAnchor(f->GetAnchor());
             }
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ bool wxHtmlWindow::LoadPage(const wxString& location)
         }
     }
 
-    if (m_OpenedPageTitle == wxEmptyString)
+    if (m_OpenedPageTitle.empty())
         OnSetTitle(wxFileNameFromPath(m_OpenedPage));
 
     if (needs_refresh)
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::ReadCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, wxString path)
     int p_fontsizes[7];
     wxString p_fff, p_ffn;
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
     {
         oldpath = cfg->GetPath();
         cfg->SetPath(path);
@@ -848,7 +848,7 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::ReadCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, wxString path)
     }
     SetFonts(p_ffn, p_fff, p_fontsizes);
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
         cfg->SetPath(oldpath);
 }
 
@@ -859,7 +859,7 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::WriteCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, wxString path)
     wxString oldpath;
     wxString tmp;
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
     {
         oldpath = cfg->GetPath();
         cfg->SetPath(path);
@@ -874,7 +874,7 @@ void wxHtmlWindow::WriteCustomization(wxConfigBase *cfg, wxString path)
         cfg->Write(tmp, (long) m_Parser->m_FontsSizes[i]);
     }
 
-    if (path != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!path.empty())
         cfg->SetPath(oldpath);
 }
 #endif // wxUSE_CONFIG
@@ -897,7 +897,7 @@ bool wxHtmlWindow::HistoryBack()
     a = (*m_History)[m_HistoryPos].GetAnchor();
     m_HistoryOn = false;
     m_tmpCanDrawLocks++;
-    if (a == wxEmptyString) LoadPage(l);
+    if (a.empty()) LoadPage(l);
     else LoadPage(l + wxT("#") + a);
     m_HistoryOn = true;
     m_tmpCanDrawLocks--;
@@ -927,7 +927,7 @@ bool wxHtmlWindow::HistoryForward()
     a = (*m_History)[m_HistoryPos].GetAnchor();
     m_HistoryOn = false;
     m_tmpCanDrawLocks++;
-    if (a == wxEmptyString) LoadPage(l);
+    if (a.empty()) LoadPage(l);
     else LoadPage(l + wxT("#") + a);
     m_HistoryOn = true;
     m_tmpCanDrawLocks--;
diff --git a/src/html/htmprint.cpp b/src/html/htmprint.cpp
index 250e807b99..48f3364d3f 100644
--- a/src/html/htmprint.cpp
+++ b/src/html/htmprint.cpp
@@ -320,22 +320,22 @@ void wxHtmlPrintout::OnPreparePrinting()
                          (double)ppiPrinterY / (double)ppiScreenY);
     m_RendererHdr->SetSize((int) (ppmm_h * (mm_w - m_MarginLeft - m_MarginRight)),
                           (int) (ppmm_v * (mm_h - m_MarginTop - m_MarginBottom)));
-    if (m_Headers[0] != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!m_Headers[0].empty())
     {
         m_RendererHdr->SetHtmlText(TranslateHeader(m_Headers[0], 1));
         m_HeaderHeight = m_RendererHdr->GetTotalHeight();
     }
-    else if (m_Headers[1] != wxEmptyString)
+    else if (!m_Headers[1].empty())
     {
         m_RendererHdr->SetHtmlText(TranslateHeader(m_Headers[1], 1));
         m_HeaderHeight = m_RendererHdr->GetTotalHeight();
     }
-    if (m_Footers[0] != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!m_Footers[0].empty())
     {
         m_RendererHdr->SetHtmlText(TranslateHeader(m_Footers[0], 1));
         m_FooterHeight = m_RendererHdr->GetTotalHeight();
     }
-    else if (m_Footers[1] != wxEmptyString)
+    else if (!m_Footers[1].empty())
     {
         m_RendererHdr->SetHtmlText(TranslateHeader(m_Footers[1], 1));
         m_FooterHeight = m_RendererHdr->GetTotalHeight();
@@ -543,12 +543,12 @@ void wxHtmlPrintout::RenderPage(wxDC *dc, int page)
     m_RendererHdr->SetDC(dc,
                          (double)ppiPrinterY / TYPICAL_SCREEN_DPI,
                          (double)ppiPrinterY / (double)ppiScreenY);
-    if (m_Headers[page % 2] != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!m_Headers[page % 2].empty())
     {
         m_RendererHdr->SetHtmlText(TranslateHeader(m_Headers[page % 2], page));
         m_RendererHdr->Render((int) (ppmm_h * m_MarginLeft), (int) (ppmm_v * m_MarginTop), m_PageBreaks);
     }
-    if (m_Footers[page % 2] != wxEmptyString)
+    if (!m_Footers[page % 2].empty())
     {
         m_RendererHdr->SetHtmlText(TranslateHeader(m_Footers[page % 2], page));
         m_RendererHdr->Render((int) (ppmm_h * m_MarginLeft), (int) (pageHeight - ppmm_v * m_MarginBottom - m_FooterHeight), m_PageBreaks);
diff --git a/src/html/winpars.cpp b/src/html/winpars.cpp
index edc8ffe0f3..83a06fc123 100644
--- a/src/html/winpars.cpp
+++ b/src/html/winpars.cpp
@@ -631,7 +631,7 @@ wxFont* wxHtmlWinParser::CreateCurrentFont()
 void wxHtmlWinParser::SetLink(const wxHtmlLinkInfo& link)
 {
     m_Link = link;
-    m_UseLink = (link.GetHref() != wxEmptyString);
+    m_UseLink = !link.GetHref().empty();
 }
 
 void wxHtmlWinParser::SetFontFace(const wxString& face)
diff --git a/src/osx/choice_osx.cpp b/src/osx/choice_osx.cpp
index 06d90f26ad..72449ab64d 100644
--- a/src/osx/choice_osx.cpp
+++ b/src/osx/choice_osx.cpp
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ int wxChoice::DoInsertItems(const wxArrayStringsAdapter & items,
         }
 
         wxString text = items[i];
-        if (text == wxEmptyString)
+        if (text.empty())
             text = " ";  // menu items can't have empty labels
         m_popUpMenu->Insert( idx, i+1, text );
         m_datas.Insert( NULL, idx );