diff --git a/simpleclient/src/main/java/io/prometheus/client/SimpleCollector.java b/simpleclient/src/main/java/io/prometheus/client/SimpleCollector.java
index ed8c5c8a0..a70d5d4e7 100644
--- a/simpleclient/src/main/java/io/prometheus/client/SimpleCollector.java
+++ b/simpleclient/src/main/java/io/prometheus/client/SimpleCollector.java
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ protected SimpleCollector(Builder b) {
     }
     fullname = name;
     checkMetricName(fullname);
-    if (b.help.isEmpty()) throw new IllegalStateException("Help hasn't been set.");
+    if (b.help != null && b.help.isEmpty()) throw new IllegalStateException("Help hasn't been set.");
     help = b.help;
     labelNames = Arrays.asList(b.labelNames);