diff --git a/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs b/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs
index 2a561033..d86ad44b 100644
--- a/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ public EvaluationContextBuilder Merge(EvaluationContext context)
                 newTargetingKey = context.TargetingKey;
             }
 
-            if (newTargetingKey != null && newTargetingKey.Trim() != string.Empty)
+            if (!string.IsNullOrWhitespace(newTargetingKey))
             {
                 this.TargetingKey = newTargetingKey;
             }