diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/Link.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/Link.java
index 04353307..93d58cad 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/Link.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/Link.java
@@ -242,8 +242,9 @@ public class Link implements Serializable {
 
 		String name = httpMethod.toString().toLowerCase();
 
-		if (inputType.resolve() != null) {
-			name += inputType.resolve().getSimpleName();
+		Class<?> resolvedInputType = inputType.resolve();
+		if (resolvedInputType != null) {
+			name += resolvedInputType.getSimpleName();
 		}
 
 		return andAffordance(name, httpMethod, inputType, queryMethodParameters, outputType);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/JsonPathLinkDiscoverer.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/JsonPathLinkDiscoverer.java
index 5fcdca34..030d8ec7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/JsonPathLinkDiscoverer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/JsonPathLinkDiscoverer.java
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ public class JsonPathLinkDiscoverer implements LinkDiscoverer {
 	 */
 	private Links createLinksFrom(Object parseResult, LinkRelation rel) {
 
-		if (parseResult instanceof JSONArray) {
+		if (JSONArray.class.isInstance(parseResult)) {
 
 			JSONArray jsonArray = (JSONArray) parseResult;
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/config/WebMvcHateoasConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/config/WebMvcHateoasConfiguration.java
index fcbe548f..5a4d478a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/config/WebMvcHateoasConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/config/WebMvcHateoasConfiguration.java
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ class WebMvcHateoasConfiguration {
 		@Override
 		public Object postProcessBeforeInitialization(Object bean, String beanName) throws BeansException {
 
-			if (!(bean instanceof RestTemplate)) {
+			if (!(RestTemplate.class.isInstance(bean))) {
 				return bean;
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/collectionjson/Jackson2CollectionJsonModule.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/collectionjson/Jackson2CollectionJsonModule.java
index 3af4e1e5..86ee454d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/collectionjson/Jackson2CollectionJsonModule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/collectionjson/Jackson2CollectionJsonModule.java
@@ -798,7 +798,7 @@ class Jackson2CollectionJsonModule extends SimpleModule {
 
 		return resources.getContent().stream().map(content -> {
 
-			if (!(content instanceof EntityModel)) {
+			if (!(EntityModel.class.isInstance(content))) {
 				return new CollectionJsonItem<>().withRawData(content);
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkDiscoverer.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkDiscoverer.java
index 2ae20518..c43117ed 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkDiscoverer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkDiscoverer.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public class HalLinkDiscoverer extends JsonPathLinkDiscoverer {
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	protected Link extractLink(Object element, LinkRelation rel) {
 
-		if (!(element instanceof Map)) {
+		if (!(Map.class.isInstance(element))) {
 			return super.extractLink(element, rel);
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkRelation.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkRelation.java
index 2eda4064..e4ac797d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkRelation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/HalLinkRelation.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public class HalLinkRelation implements LinkRelation, MessageSourceResolvable {
 
 		Assert.notNull(relation, "LinkRelation must not be null!");
 
-		if (relation instanceof HalLinkRelation) {
+		if (HalLinkRelation.class.isInstance(relation)) {
 			return (HalLinkRelation) relation;
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/Jackson2HalModule.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/Jackson2HalModule.java
index dd1abc6d..e34530e7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/Jackson2HalModule.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/mediatype/hal/Jackson2HalModule.java
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ public class Jackson2HalModule extends SimpleModule {
 
 			Object firstElement = list.get(0);
 
-			if (!(firstElement instanceof HalLink)) {
+			if (!(HalLink.class.isInstance(firstElement))) {
 				serializeContents(list, jgen, provider);
 				return;
 			}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/UriTemplateFactory.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/UriTemplateFactory.java
index 4022e199..b483b556 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/UriTemplateFactory.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/UriTemplateFactory.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public class UriTemplateFactory {
 	 * @param mapping must not be {@literal null} or empty.
 	 * @return
 	 */
-	public static UriTemplate templateFor(String mapping) {
+	public static UriTemplate templateFor(@Nullable String mapping) {
 
 		Assert.hasText(mapping, "Mapping must not be null or empty!");
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/WebHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/WebHandler.java
index ac32a9f4..a59c07e7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/WebHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/core/WebHandler.java
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ public class WebHandler {
 		 * @param attribute must not be {@literal null}.
 		 * @return
 		 */
-		protected BoundMethodParameter createParameter(MethodParameter parameter, Object value,
+		protected BoundMethodParameter createParameter(MethodParameter parameter, @Nullable Object value,
 				AnnotationAttribute attribute) {
 			return new BoundMethodParameter(parameter, value, attribute);
 		}
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ public class WebHandler {
 			 * @param value can be {@literal null}.
 			 * @param attribute can be {@literal null}.
 			 */
-			public BoundMethodParameter(MethodParameter parameter, Object value, AnnotationAttribute attribute) {
+			public BoundMethodParameter(MethodParameter parameter, @Nullable Object value, AnnotationAttribute attribute) {
 
 				Assert.notNull(parameter, "MethodParameter must not be null!");
 
@@ -404,6 +404,7 @@ public class WebHandler {
 			 *
 			 * @return
 			 */
+			@Nullable
 			public Object getValue() {
 				return value;
 			}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/mvc/RepresentationModelProcessorInvoker.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/mvc/RepresentationModelProcessorInvoker.java
index 3190f69b..0240bdc7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/mvc/RepresentationModelProcessorInvoker.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/server/mvc/RepresentationModelProcessorInvoker.java
@@ -293,8 +293,8 @@ public class RepresentationModelProcessorInvoker {
 		 * Returns whether the given {@link EntityModel} matches the given target {@link ResolvableType}. We inspect the
 		 * {@link EntityModel}'s value to determine the match.
 		 *
-		 * @param resource
-		 * @param target must not be {@literal null}.
+		 * @param resource can be {@literal null}.
+		 * @param target can be {@literal null}.
 		 * @return whether the given {@link EntityModel} can be assigned to the given target {@link ResolvableType}
 		 */
 		private static boolean isValueTypeMatch(@Nullable EntityModel<?> resource, @Nullable ResolvableType target) {