diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java
index 6abfe86d..76253b50 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/csv/Lexer.java
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ final class Lexer {
         }
     }
 
-    private final char mapNullToDisabled(final Character c) {
+    private char mapNullToDisabled(final Character c) {
         return c == null ? DISABLED : c.charValue();
     }