diff --git a/docs/checks_header.html b/docs/checks_header.html
index 7625e197d..fb6727eb1 100644
--- a/docs/checks_header.html
+++ b/docs/checks_header.html
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 whether to check that each file begins with a specified header. The header
 contents are specified in the file. If no file is specified, checkstyle does
 not check for a header. The property type is
-<a href="property_types.html#string">string</a> and defaults to
-<span class="default">null</span> (which means do not check).</p>
+<a href="property_types.html#string">string</a> and defaults to an empty string
+(which means do not check).</p>
 
 <p>The property <span class="code">checkstyle.header.ignoreline</span>
 specifies the line numbers to ignore when matching lines in a header file. The