diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/Specification.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/Specification.java
index d7c87573d..91db40f37 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/Specification.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/Specification.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 package org.springframework.data.jpa.domain;
 
 import static org.springframework.data.jpa.domain.SpecificationComposition.*;
-import static org.springframework.data.jpa.domain.SpecificationComposition.CompositionType.*;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
 
@@ -40,8 +39,6 @@ public interface Specification<T> extends Serializable {
 
 	long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
-	Specification EMPTY_SPEC = (root, query, criteriaBuilder) -> null;
-
 	/**
 	 * Negates the given {@link Specification}.
 	 *
@@ -50,8 +47,11 @@ public interface Specification<T> extends Serializable {
 	 * @return
 	 * @since 2.0
 	 */
-	static <T> Specification<T> not(Specification<T> spec) {
-		return negated(spec);
+	static <T> Specification<T> not(@Nullable Specification<T> spec) {
+
+		return spec == null //
+				? (root, query, builder) -> null//
+				: (root, query, builder) -> builder.not(spec.toPredicate(root, query, builder));
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -62,8 +62,9 @@ public interface Specification<T> extends Serializable {
 	 * @return
 	 * @since 2.0
 	 */
-	static <T> Specification<T> where(Specification<T> spec) {
-		return spec == null ? EMPTY_SPEC : spec;
+	@Nullable
+	static <T> Specification<T> where(@Nullable Specification<T> spec) {
+		return spec == null ? (root, query, builder) -> null : spec;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -73,8 +74,9 @@ public interface Specification<T> extends Serializable {
 	 * @return The conjunction of the specifications
 	 * @since 2.0
 	 */
-	default Specification<T> and(Specification<T> other) {
-		return composed(this, other, AND);
+	@Nullable
+	default Specification<T> and(@Nullable Specification<T> other) {
+		return composed(this, other, (builder, left, rhs) -> builder.and(left, rhs));
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -84,8 +86,9 @@ public interface Specification<T> extends Serializable {
 	 * @return The disjunction of the specifications
 	 * @since 2.0
 	 */
-	default Specification<T> or(Specification<T> other) {
-		return composed(this, other, OR);
+	@Nullable
+	default Specification<T> or(@Nullable Specification<T> other) {
+		return composed(this, other, (builder, left, rhs) -> builder.or(left, rhs));
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/SpecificationComposition.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/SpecificationComposition.java
index e8cc266f4..e4e073868 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/SpecificationComposition.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jpa/domain/SpecificationComposition.java
@@ -1,56 +1,62 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
 package org.springframework.data.jpa.domain;
 
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import javax.persistence.criteria.CriteriaBuilder;
+import javax.persistence.criteria.CriteriaQuery;
+import javax.persistence.criteria.Predicate;
+import javax.persistence.criteria.Root;
+
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 
-import javax.persistence.criteria.CriteriaBuilder;
-import javax.persistence.criteria.Predicate;
-
 /**
- * Helper class to support specification compositions
+ * Helper class to support specification compositions.
  *
  * @author Sebastian Staudt
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
  * @see Specification
+ * @since 2.2
  */
 class SpecificationComposition {
 
-    /**
-     * Enum for the composition types for {@link Predicate}s. Can not be turned into lambdas as we need to be
-     * serializable.
-     *
-     * @author Thomas Darimont
-     */
-    enum CompositionType {
+	interface Combiner extends Serializable {
+		Predicate combine(CriteriaBuilder builder, @Nullable Predicate lhs, @Nullable Predicate rhs);
+	}
 
-        AND {
-            @Override
-            public Predicate combine(CriteriaBuilder builder, Predicate lhs, Predicate rhs) {
-                return builder.and(lhs, rhs);
-            }
-        },
+	@Nullable
+	static <T> Specification<T> composed(@Nullable Specification<T> lhs, @Nullable Specification<T> rhs,
+			Combiner combiner) {
 
-        OR {
-            @Override
-            public Predicate combine(CriteriaBuilder builder, Predicate lhs, Predicate rhs) {
-                return builder.or(lhs, rhs);
-            }
-        };
+		return (root, query, builder) -> {
 
-        abstract Predicate combine(CriteriaBuilder builder, Predicate lhs, Predicate rhs);
-    }
+			Predicate otherPredicate = toPredicate(lhs, root, query, builder);
+			Predicate thisPredicate = toPredicate(rhs, root, query, builder);
 
-    static <T> Specification<T> negated(@Nullable Specification<T> spec) {
-        return (root, query, builder) -> spec == null ? null : builder.not(spec.toPredicate(root, query, builder));
-    }
+			if (thisPredicate == null) {
+				return otherPredicate;
+			}
 
-    static <T> Specification<T> composed(@Nullable Specification<T> lhs, @Nullable Specification<T> rhs, CompositionType compositionType) {
+			return otherPredicate == null ? thisPredicate : combiner.combine(builder, thisPredicate, otherPredicate);
+		};
+	}
 
-        return (root, query, builder) -> {
-
-            Predicate otherPredicate = rhs == null ? null : rhs.toPredicate(root, query, builder);
-            Predicate thisPredicate = lhs == null ? null : lhs.toPredicate(root, query, builder);
-
-            return thisPredicate == null ? otherPredicate
-                    : otherPredicate == null ? thisPredicate : compositionType.combine(builder, thisPredicate, otherPredicate);
-        };
-    }
+	private static <T> Predicate toPredicate(Specification<T> specification, Root<T> root, CriteriaQuery<?> query,
+			CriteriaBuilder builder) {
+		return specification == null ? null : specification.toPredicate(root, query, builder);
+	}
 }