diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java
index a0c132954..015a829ad 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java
@@ -158,6 +158,29 @@ public static boolean equals(Object object1, Object object2) {
         return object1.equals(object2);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * <p>Compares two objects for inequality, where either one or both
+     * objects may be <code>null</code>.</p>
+     *
+     * <pre>
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual(null, null)                  = false
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual(null, "")                    = true
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual("", null)                    = true
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual("", "")                      = false
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual(Boolean.TRUE, null)          = true
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual(Boolean.TRUE, "true")        = true
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual(Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.TRUE)  = false
+     * ObjectUtils.notEqual(Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.FALSE) = true
+     * </pre>
+     *
+     * @param object1  the first object, may be <code>null</code>
+     * @param object2  the second object, may be <code>null</code>
+     * @return <code>false</code> if the values of both objects are the same
+     */
+    public static boolean notEqual(Object object1, Object object2) {
+        return ObjectUtils.equals(object1, object2) == false;
+    }
+
     /**
      * <p>Gets the hash code of an object returning zero when the
      * object is <code>null</code>.</p>
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtilsTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtilsTest.java
index 01ba19721..2e22a9f91 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtilsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtilsTest.java
@@ -88,6 +88,14 @@ public void testEquals() {
         assertTrue("ObjectUtils.equals(\"foo\", \"foo\") returned false", ObjectUtils.equals(FOO, FOO));
     }
 
+    public void testNotEqual() {
+        assertFalse("ObjectUtils.notEqual(null, null) returned false", ObjectUtils.notEqual(null, null));
+        assertTrue("ObjectUtils.notEqual(\"foo\", null) returned true", ObjectUtils.notEqual(FOO, null));
+        assertTrue("ObjectUtils.notEqual(null, \"bar\") returned true", ObjectUtils.notEqual(null, BAR));
+        assertTrue("ObjectUtils.notEqual(\"foo\", \"bar\") returned true", ObjectUtils.notEqual(FOO, BAR));
+        assertFalse("ObjectUtils.notEqual(\"foo\", \"foo\") returned false", ObjectUtils.notEqual(FOO, FOO));
+    }
+
     public void testHashCode() {
         assertEquals(0, ObjectUtils.hashCode(null));
         assertEquals("a".hashCode(), ObjectUtils.hashCode("a"));