diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java
index 677da9e7c..4dcaa559c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/lang3/ObjectUtils.java
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ public class ObjectUtils {
      * @param <T> type of the values processed by this method
      * @param c1  the first comparable, may be null
      * @param c2  the second comparable, may be null
-     * @return a negative value if c1 &gt; c2, zero if c1 = c2
+     * @return a negative value if c1 &lt; c2, zero if c1 = c2
      *  and a positive value if c1 &gt; c2
      */
     public static <T extends Comparable<? super T>> int compare(final T c1, final T c2) {