diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/bibtexkeypattern/BracketedPattern.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/bibtexkeypattern/BracketedPattern.java
index e245e5b4431..e993f7db30c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/bibtexkeypattern/BracketedPattern.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/bibtexkeypattern/BracketedPattern.java
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ public static String firstAuthor(String authorField) {
         if (authorList.isEmpty()) {
             return "";
         }
-        if (authorList.getAuthor(0).getVon().toString().equals("Optional.empty")) {
+        if (!authorList.getAuthor(0).getVon().isPresent()) {
             Character.UnicodeBlock ub = Character.UnicodeBlock.of(authorList.getAuthor(0).getLast().orElse("").charAt(0));
             if ((ub == Character.UnicodeBlock.CJK_UNIFIED_IDEOGRAPHS)
                 || (ub == Character.UnicodeBlock.CJK_COMPATIBILITY_IDEOGRAPHS)