diff --git a/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs b/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs
index fb8a779d..2a561033 100644
--- a/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/OpenFeature/Model/EvaluationContextBuilder.cs
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ public EvaluationContextBuilder Merge(EvaluationContext context)
                 newTargetingKey = TargetingKey;
             }
 
-            if (context.TargetingKey != null && context.TargetingKey.Trim() != string.Empty)
+            if (!string.IsNullOrWhitespace(context.TargetingKey))
             {
                 newTargetingKey = context.TargetingKey;
             }