diff --git a/compiler/cli/cli-js/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/js/K2JSCompiler.java b/compiler/cli/cli-js/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/js/K2JSCompiler.java
index 652c97ae9e8..3d0a6356504 100644
--- a/compiler/cli/cli-js/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/js/K2JSCompiler.java
+++ b/compiler/cli/cli-js/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/js/K2JSCompiler.java
@@ -184,8 +184,7 @@ public class K2JSCompiler extends CLICompiler<K2JSCompilerArguments> {
         }
 
         LanguageVersionSettings languageVersionSettings = CommonConfigurationKeysKt.getLanguageVersionSettings(configuration);
-
-        if (CompilerSystemProperties.KOTLIN_JS_COMPILER_LEGACY_FORCE_ENABLED.getValue() != "true" && languageVersionSettings.getLanguageVersion().compareTo(LanguageVersion.KOTLIN_1_9) >= 0) {
+        if (!Objects.equals(CompilerSystemProperties.KOTLIN_JS_COMPILER_LEGACY_FORCE_ENABLED.getValue(), "true") && languageVersionSettings.getLanguageVersion().compareTo(LanguageVersion.KOTLIN_1_9) >= 0) {
             messageCollector.report(ERROR, "Old Kotlin/JS compiler is no longer supported. Please migrate to the new JS IR backend", null);
             return COMPILATION_ERROR;
         }