diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/ZkUtils.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/ZkUtils.scala
index 1e9cc6e9d62..97a59951750 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/ZkUtils.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/utils/ZkUtils.scala
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 
 package kafka.utils
 
-import java.util.Collections
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch
 
 import kafka.admin._
@@ -42,6 +41,7 @@ import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
 
 object ZkUtils {
 
+  private val UseDefaultAcls = new java.util.ArrayList[ACL]
 
   // Important: it is necessary to add any new top level Zookeeper path here
   val AdminPath = "/admin"
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ object ZkUtils {
   }
 
   def sensitivePath(path: String): Boolean = {
-    path != null && !SensitiveZkRootPaths.forall(!path.startsWith(_))
+    path != null && SensitiveZkRootPaths.exists(path.startsWith(_))
   }
 
   @deprecated("This is deprecated, use defaultAcls(isSecure, path) which doesn't make sensitive data world readable", since = "0.10.2.1")
@@ -235,10 +235,11 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
                               IsrChangeNotificationPath,
                               PidBlockPath)
 
+  import ZkUtils._
+
   @deprecated("This is deprecated, use defaultAcls(path) which doesn't make sensitive data world readable", since = "0.10.2.1")
   val DefaultAcls: java.util.List[ACL] = ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, "")
 
-  private val useDefaultAcl  = Collections.emptyList[ACL]
   def defaultAcls(path: String): java.util.List[ACL] = ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path)
 
   def getController(): Int = {
@@ -432,11 +433,11 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
   /**
    *  make sure a persistent path exists in ZK. Create the path if not exist.
    */
-  def makeSurePersistentPathExists(path: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl) {
+  def makeSurePersistentPathExists(path: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls) {
     //Consumer path is kept open as different consumers will write under this node.
     val acl = if (path == null || path.isEmpty || path.equals(ConsumersPath)) {
       ZooDefs.Ids.OPEN_ACL_UNSAFE
-    } else if (acls == useDefaultAcl) {
+    } else if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) {
       ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path)
     } else {
       acls
@@ -449,8 +450,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
   /**
    *  create the parent path
    */
-  private def createParentPath(path: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl): Unit = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  private def createParentPath(path: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls): Unit = {
+    val acl = if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     val parentDir = path.substring(0, path.lastIndexOf('/'))
     if (parentDir.length != 0) {
       ZkPath.createPersistent(zkClient, parentDir, createParents = true, acl)
@@ -460,8 +461,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
   /**
    * Create an ephemeral node with the given path and data. Create parents if necessary.
    */
-  private def createEphemeralPath(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl): Unit = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  private def createEphemeralPath(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls): Unit = {
+    val acl = if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     try {
       ZkPath.createEphemeral(zkClient, path, data, acl)
     } catch {
@@ -475,8 +476,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
    * Create an ephemeral node with the given path and data.
    * Throw NodeExistException if node already exists.
    */
-  def createEphemeralPathExpectConflict(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl): Unit = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  def createEphemeralPathExpectConflict(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls): Unit = {
+    val acl = if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     try {
       createEphemeralPath(path, data, acl)
     } catch {
@@ -501,8 +502,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
   /**
    * Create a persistent node with the given path and data. Create parents if necessary.
    */
-  def createPersistentPath(path: String, data: String = "", acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl): Unit = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  def createPersistentPath(path: String, data: String = "", acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls): Unit = {
+    val acl = if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     try {
       ZkPath.createPersistent(zkClient, path, data, acl)
     } catch {
@@ -512,8 +513,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
     }
   }
 
-  def createSequentialPersistentPath(path: String, data: String = "", acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl): String = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  def createSequentialPersistentPath(path: String, data: String = "", acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls): String = {
+    val acl = if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     ZkPath.createPersistentSequential(zkClient, path, data, acl)
   }
 
@@ -522,8 +523,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
    * create parent directory if necessary. Never throw NodeExistException.
    * Return the updated path zkVersion
    */
-  def updatePersistentPath(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl) = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  def updatePersistentPath(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls) = {
+    val acl = if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     try {
       zkClient.writeData(path, data)
     } catch {
@@ -593,8 +594,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
    * Update the value of a persistent node with the given path and data.
    * create parent directory if necessary. Never throw NodeExistException.
    */
-  def updateEphemeralPath(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl): Unit = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  def updateEphemeralPath(path: String, data: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls): Unit = {
+    val acl = if (acls eq UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     try {
       zkClient.writeData(path, data)
     } catch {
@@ -871,8 +872,8 @@ class ZkUtils(val zkClient: ZkClient,
     * It uses the stat returned by the zookeeper and return the version. Every time
     * client updates the path stat.version gets incremented. Starting value of sequence number is 1.
     */
-  def getSequenceId(path: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = useDefaultAcl): Int = {
-    val acl = if (acls == useDefaultAcl) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
+  def getSequenceId(path: String, acls: java.util.List[ACL] = UseDefaultAcls): Int = {
+    val acl = if (acls == UseDefaultAcls) ZkUtils.defaultAcls(isSecure, path) else acls
     def writeToZk: Int = zkClient.writeDataReturnStat(path, "", -1).getVersion
     try {
       writeToZk