diff --git a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java
index 2dfcab77a..0c882f999 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java
@@ -32,11 +32,6 @@ import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.utils.JavadocUtils;
  *
  */
 public class JavadocNodeImpl implements DetailNode {
-    /**
-     * Empty array of {@link DetailNode} type.
-     */
-    private static final DetailNode[] EMPTY_DETAIL_NODE_ARRAY = new DetailNode[0];
-
     /**
      * Node index among parent's children
      */
@@ -95,7 +90,7 @@ public class JavadocNodeImpl implements DetailNode {
     @Override
     public DetailNode[] getChildren() {
         if (children == null) {
-            return EMPTY_DETAIL_NODE_ARRAY.clone();
+            return JavadocUtils.EMPTY_DETAIL_NODE_ARRAY;
         }
         else {
             return Arrays.copyOf(children, children.length);
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/utils/JavadocUtils.java b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/utils/JavadocUtils.java
index 9065b08db..5961a3420 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/utils/JavadocUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/utils/JavadocUtils.java
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.javadoc.JavadocTags;
  * @author Lyle Hanson
  */
 public final class JavadocUtils {
+    /**
+     * Empty array of {@link DetailNode} type.
+     */
+    public static final DetailNode[] EMPTY_DETAIL_NODE_ARRAY = new DetailNode[0];
     /** Maps from a token name to value */
     private static final ImmutableMap<String, Integer> TOKEN_NAME_TO_VALUE;
     /** Maps from a token value to name */