diff --git a/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/GroupReference.java b/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/GroupReference.java
index 7271e1e8f3..3ae9f459d6 100644
--- a/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/GroupReference.java
+++ b/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/GroupReference.java
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ public class GroupReference implements Comparable<GroupReference> {
     return new GroupReference(group.getGroupUUID(), group.getName());
   }
 
+  public static boolean isGroupReference(String configValue) {
+    return configValue != null && configValue.startsWith(PREFIX);
+  }
+
   public static GroupReference fromString(String ref) {
     String name = ref.substring(ref.indexOf("[") + 1, ref.lastIndexOf("/")).trim();
     String uuid = ref.substring(ref.lastIndexOf("/") + 1, ref.lastIndexOf("]")).trim();
diff --git a/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/PermissionRule.java b/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/PermissionRule.java
index b4cabb523a..c6da8a85ac 100644
--- a/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/PermissionRule.java
+++ b/gerrit-common/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/common/data/PermissionRule.java
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ public class PermissionRule implements Comparable<PermissionRule> {
       src = src.substring("+force ".length()).trim();
     }
 
-    if (mightUseRange && !src.startsWith(GroupReference.PREFIX)) {
+    if (mightUseRange && !GroupReference.isGroupReference(src)) {
       int sp = src.indexOf(' ');
       String range = src.substring(0, sp);
 
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ public class PermissionRule implements Comparable<PermissionRule> {
       src = src.substring(sp + 1).trim();
     }
 
-    if (src.startsWith(GroupReference.PREFIX)) {
+    if (GroupReference.isGroupReference(src)) {
       src = src.substring(6).trim();
       GroupReference group = new GroupReference();
       group.setName(src);
diff --git a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/git/ProjectConfig.java b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/git/ProjectConfig.java
index c62d452db1..15e408ea11 100644
--- a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/git/ProjectConfig.java
+++ b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/git/ProjectConfig.java
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ public class ProjectConfig extends VersionedMetaData implements ValidationError.
       n.setHeader(rc.getEnum(NOTIFY, sectionName, KEY_HEADER, NotifyConfig.Header.BCC));
 
       for (String dst : rc.getStringList(NOTIFY, sectionName, KEY_EMAIL)) {
-        if (dst.startsWith(GroupReference.PREFIX)) {
+        if (GroupReference.isGroupReference(dst)) {
           String groupName = dst.substring(6).trim();
           GroupReference ref = groupsByName.get(groupName);
           if (ref == null) {