diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/PropertySet.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/PropertySet.java
index 30b682392..8095ab19a 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/PropertySet.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/PropertySet.java
@@ -673,7 +673,7 @@ public class PropertySet
         b.append(getOSVersion());
         b.append(", sectionCount: ");
         b.append(sectionCount);
-        b.append(", sections: [");
+        b.append(", sections: [\n");
         final List sections = getSections();
         for (int i = 0; i < sectionCount; i++)
             b.append(((Section) sections.get(0)).toString());
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/Section.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/Section.java
index fd9e020c4..913fc9116 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/Section.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/Section.java
@@ -448,7 +448,24 @@ public class Section
 
 
     /**
-     * <p>Checks whether this section is equal to another object.</p>
+     * <p>Checks whether this section is equal to another object. The result is
+     * <code>false</code> if one of the the following conditions holds:</p>
+     * 
+     * <ul>
+     * 
+     * <li><p>The other object is not a {@link Section}.</p></li>
+     * 
+     * <li><p>The format IDs of the two sections are not equal.</p></li>
+     *   
+     * <li><p>The sections have a different number of properties. However,
+     * properties with ID 1 (codepage) are not counted.</p></li>
+     * 
+     * <li><p>The other object is not a {@link Section}.</p></li>
+     * 
+     * <li><p>The properties have different values. The order of the properties
+     * is irrelevant.</p></li>
+     * 
+     * </ul>
      * 
      * @param o The object to compare this section with
      * @return <code>true</code> if the objects are equal, <code>false</code> if
@@ -461,8 +478,6 @@ public class Section
         final Section s = (Section) o;
         if (!s.getFormatID().equals(getFormatID()))
             return false;
-        if (s.getPropertyCount() != getPropertyCount())
-            return false;
 
         /* Compare all properties except 0 and 1 as they must be handled 
          * specially. */
@@ -508,6 +523,12 @@ public class Section
             }
         }
 
+        /* If the number of properties (not counting property 1) is unequal the
+         * sections are unequal. */
+        if (pa1.length != pa2.length)
+            return false;
+
+        /* If the dictionaries are unequal the sections are unequal. */
         boolean dictionaryEqual = true;
         if (p10 != null && p20 != null)
             dictionaryEqual = p10.getValue().equals(p20.getValue());