--- /RefinedSoundex.java	2023-07-05 02:32:36.998157960 +0200
+++ /Codec-1/src/java/org/apache/commons/codec/language/RefinedSoundex.java	2023-07-05 02:32:36.998157960 +0200
@@ -153,8 +153,9 @@
 	 */
     public String soundex(String str) {
         if (str == null) {
-            return null;
-        }
+ 
+ 
+ 
         str = SoundexUtils.clean(str);
         if (str.length() == 0) {
             return str;
