diff --git a/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc b/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc
index cd150142a1..32092e65f8 100644
--- a/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc
+++ b/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc
@@ -202,11 +202,8 @@ bool GetBooleanField(JNIEnv* jni, jobject object, jfieldID id) {
   return b;
 }
 
-// Java references to "null" can only be distinguished as such in C++ by
-// creating a local reference, so this helper wraps that logic.
 bool IsNull(JNIEnv* jni, jobject obj) {
-  ScopedLocalRefFrame local_ref_frame(jni);
-  return jni->NewLocalRef(obj) == NULL;
+  return jni->IsSameObject(obj, nullptr);
 }
 
 // Given a UTF-8 encoded |native| string return a new (UTF-16) jstring.
diff --git a/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.h b/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.h
index 05a956508c..87c5ca48f2 100644
--- a/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.h
+++ b/webrtc/api/java/jni/jni_helpers.h
@@ -72,8 +72,7 @@ jint GetIntField(JNIEnv* jni, jobject object, jfieldID id);
 
 bool GetBooleanField(JNIEnv* jni, jobject object, jfieldID id);
 
-// Java references to "null" can only be distinguished as such in C++ by
-// creating a local reference, so this helper wraps that logic.
+// Returns true if |obj| == null in Java.
 bool IsNull(JNIEnv* jni, jobject obj);
 
 // Given a UTF-8 encoded |native| string return a new (UTF-16) jstring.