diff --git a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/XSSFSheetXMLHandler.java b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/XSSFSheetXMLHandler.java
index 06c9f09b9..baaac3040 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/XSSFSheetXMLHandler.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/eventusermodel/XSSFSheetXMLHandler.java
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ public class XSSFSheetXMLHandler extends DefaultHandler {
    private void outputEmptyCellComment(CellReference cellRef) {
        String cellRefString = cellRef.formatAsString();
        XSSFComment comment = commentsTable.findCellComment(cellRefString);
-       output.emptyCellComment(cellRefString, comment);
+       output.cell(cellRefString, null, comment);
    }
    
    private enum EmptyCellCommentsCheckType {
@@ -497,10 +497,10 @@ public class XSSFSheetXMLHandler extends DefaultHandler {
       public void startRow(int rowNum);
       /** A row with the (zero based) row number has ended */
       public void endRow(int rowNum);
-      /** A cell, with the given formatted value, and possibly a comment, was encountered */
+      /** 
+       * A cell, with the given formatted value (may be null), 
+       *  and possibly a comment (may be null), was encountered */
       public void cell(String cellReference, String formattedValue, XSSFComment comment);
-      /** A comment for an otherwise-empty cell was encountered */
-      public void emptyCellComment(String cellReference, XSSFComment comment);
       /** A header or footer has been encountered */
       public void headerFooter(String text, boolean isHeader, String tagName);
    }
diff --git a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/extractor/XSSFEventBasedExcelExtractor.java b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/extractor/XSSFEventBasedExcelExtractor.java
index c598ed2e3..b70c4abb3 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/extractor/XSSFEventBasedExcelExtractor.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xssf/extractor/XSSFEventBasedExcelExtractor.java
@@ -268,14 +268,17 @@ public class XSSFEventBasedExcelExtractor extends POIXMLTextExtractor
             this.headerFooterMap = includeHeadersFooters ? new HashMap<String, String>() : null;
         }
 
+        @Override
         public void startRow(int rowNum) {
             firstCellOfRow = true;
         }
 
+        @Override
         public void endRow(int rowNum) {
             output.append('\n');
         }
 
+        @Override
         public void cell(String cellRef, String formattedValue, XSSFComment comment) {
             if(firstCellOfRow) {
                 firstCellOfRow = false;
@@ -296,10 +299,7 @@ public class XSSFEventBasedExcelExtractor extends POIXMLTextExtractor
             }
         }
 
-        public void emptyCellComment(String cellRef, XSSFComment comment) {
-            cell(cellRef, null, comment);
-        }
-
+        @Override
         public void headerFooter(String text, boolean isHeader, String tagName) {
             if (headerFooterMap != null) {
                 headerFooterMap.put(tagName, text);