diff --git a/activemq-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/command/ActiveMQMapMessage.java b/activemq-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/command/ActiveMQMapMessage.java
index 7fac237218..7d8068176b 100755
--- a/activemq-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/command/ActiveMQMapMessage.java
+++ b/activemq-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/command/ActiveMQMapMessage.java
@@ -312,13 +312,13 @@ public class ActiveMQMapMessage extends ActiveMQMessage implements MapMessage {
     public char getChar(String name) throws JMSException {
         initializeReading();
         Object value = map.get(name);
+
         if (value == null) {
             throw new NullPointerException();
-        }
-        if (value instanceof Character) {
+        } else if (value instanceof Character) {
             return ((Character)value).charValue();
         } else {
-            throw new MessageFormatException(" cannot read a short from " + value.getClass().getName());
+            throw new MessageFormatException(" cannot read a char from " + value.getClass().getName());
         }
     }