diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/assignment/AssignmentManager.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/assignment/AssignmentManager.java
index b51365a542f4..d2393fe18f3e 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/assignment/AssignmentManager.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/assignment/AssignmentManager.java
@@ -2281,7 +2281,7 @@ public List<ServerName> getExcludedServersForSystemTable() {
       .map(s->new Pair<>(s, master.getRegionServerVersion(s)))
       .collect(Collectors.toList());
     if (serverList.isEmpty()) {
-      return Collections.emptyList();
+      return new ArrayList<>();
     }
     String highestVersion = Collections.max(serverList,
       (o1, o2) -> VersionInfo.compareVersion(o1.getSecond(), o2.getSecond())).getSecond();
@@ -2289,7 +2289,7 @@ public List<ServerName> getExcludedServersForSystemTable() {
       int comparedValue = VersionInfo.compareVersion(minVersionToMoveSysTables,
         highestVersion);
       if (comparedValue > 0) {
-        return Collections.emptyList();
+        return new ArrayList<>();
       }
     }
     return serverList.stream()