diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java
index 3185770c8..8973b86f0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/StringUtils.java
@@ -4614,7 +4614,7 @@ public class StringUtils {
      * @return String length or <code>0</code> if the String is <code>null</code>.
      * @since 2.4
      */
-    public static int length(String str) {
+    public static int length(CharSequence str) {
         return str == null ? 0 : str.length();
     }