diff --git a/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/EntityGraphRetriever.java b/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/EntityGraphRetriever.java
index a0a094222e..32976e1658 100644
--- a/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/EntityGraphRetriever.java
+++ b/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/EntityGraphRetriever.java
@@ -1964,7 +1964,7 @@ public Object getVertexAttributePreFetchCache(AtlasVertex vertex, AtlasAttribute
         }
 
         // value is present as marker , fetch the value from the vertex
-        if (properties.get(attribute.getName()) == StringUtils.SPACE) {
+        if (properties.get(attribute.getName()).equals(StringUtils.SPACE)) {
             return mapVertexToAttribute(vertex, attribute, null, false);
         }