diff --git a/javacutil/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/javacutil/TreeUtils.java b/javacutil/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/javacutil/TreeUtils.java
index 7fba3a8b36e..b0ba546591b 100644
--- a/javacutil/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/javacutil/TreeUtils.java
+++ b/javacutil/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/javacutil/TreeUtils.java
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ public static ExecutableElement elementFromUse(NewClassTree tree) {
    * @param tree the {@link Tree} node to get the symbol for
    * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code tree} is null or is not a valid javac-internal tree
    *     (JCTree)
-   * @return the {@link Symbol} for the given tree, or null if one could not be found
+   * @return the {@link Symbol} for the given tree
    */
   @Pure
   public static VariableElement variableElementFromTree(Tree tree) {