diff --git a/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/AggregationAssessor.java b/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/AggregationAssessor.java
index 78e02860ef..64944df1c4 100644
--- a/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/AggregationAssessor.java
+++ b/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/AggregationAssessor.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import ch.qos.logback.core.joran.util.beans.BeanUtil;
 import ch.qos.logback.core.spi.ContextAwareBase;
 import ch.qos.logback.core.util.AggregationType;
+import ch.qos.logback.core.util.StringUtil;
 
 import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ public AggregationAssessor(BeanDescriptionCache beanDescriptionCache, Class objC
      * @return the computed {@link AggregationType}
      */
     public AggregationType computeAggregationType(String name) {
-        String cName = capitalizeFirstLetter(name);
+        String cName = StringUtil.capitalizeFirstLetter(name);
 
         Method addMethod = findAdderMethod(cName);
 
@@ -82,9 +83,10 @@ public AggregationType computeAggregationType(String name) {
         }
     }
 
-    String capitalizeFirstLetter(String name) {
-        return name.substring(0, 1).toUpperCase() + name.substring(1);
-    }
+
+//    String capitalizeFirstLetter(String name) {
+//        return StringUtil.capitalizeFirstLetter(name);
+//    }
 
     Method findAdderMethod(String name) {
         String propertyName = BeanUtil.toLowerCamelCase(name);
diff --git a/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/PropertySetter.java b/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/PropertySetter.java
index 3d29a94458..199dc9a5db 100644
--- a/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/PropertySetter.java
+++ b/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/joran/util/PropertySetter.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import ch.qos.logback.core.spi.ContextAwareBase;
 import ch.qos.logback.core.util.AggregationType;
 import ch.qos.logback.core.util.PropertySetterException;
+import ch.qos.logback.core.util.StringUtil;
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 
@@ -208,7 +209,7 @@ public void addBasicProperty(String name, String strValue) {
             return;
         }
 
-        name = aggregationAssessor.capitalizeFirstLetter(name);
+        name = StringUtil.capitalizeFirstLetter(name);
         Method adderMethod =aggregationAssessor.findAdderMethod(name);
 
         if (adderMethod == null) {
diff --git a/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/util/StringUtil.java b/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/util/StringUtil.java
index 6f04f5a84a..3a66f5587d 100644
--- a/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/util/StringUtil.java
+++ b/logback-core/src/main/java/ch/qos/logback/core/util/StringUtil.java
@@ -39,4 +39,11 @@ public static boolean isNullOrEmpty(String str) {
     public static boolean notNullNorEmpty(String str) {
         return !isNullOrEmpty(str);
     }
+
+    public static String capitalizeFirstLetter(String name) {
+        if(isNullOrEmpty(name))
+            return name;
+        else
+            return name.substring(0, 1).toUpperCase() + name.substring(1);
+    }
 }