diff --git a/liberty/EquivCells.cc b/liberty/EquivCells.cc
index a9a74130..113ec673 100644
--- a/liberty/EquivCells.cc
+++ b/liberty/EquivCells.cc
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ bool
 equivCellFootprints(const LibertyCell *cell1,
                     const LibertyCell *cell2)
 {
-  return strcmp(cell1->footprint(), cell2->footprint()) == 0;
+  return stringEqIf(cell1->footprint(), cell2->footprint());
 }
 
 } // namespace
diff --git a/liberty/Liberty.cc b/liberty/Liberty.cc
index b9a00751..055aaf27 100644
--- a/liberty/Liberty.cc
+++ b/liberty/Liberty.cc
@@ -2001,10 +2001,7 @@ LibertyCell::setFootprint(const char *footprint)
 const char*
 LibertyCell::footprint() const
 {
-  if (footprint_)
-    return footprint_;
-  else
-    return "";
+  return footprint_;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////