diff --git a/libse/Paragraph.cs b/libse/Paragraph.cs
index dd5449d28..10c266067 100644
--- a/libse/Paragraph.cs
+++ b/libse/Paragraph.cs
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ namespace Nikse.SubtitleEdit.Core
 
         public string Bookmark { get; set; }
 
+        public bool IsDefault => StartTime.TotalMilliseconds == 0 && EndTime.TotalMilliseconds == 0 && string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text);
+
         private string GenerateId()
         {
             return Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
diff --git a/libse/SubtitleFormats/SubRip.cs b/libse/SubtitleFormats/SubRip.cs
index a771875b9..b8c129b03 100644
--- a/libse/SubtitleFormats/SubRip.cs
+++ b/libse/SubtitleFormats/SubRip.cs
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ namespace Nikse.SubtitleEdit.Core.SubtitleFormats
 
                 ReadLine(subtitle, line, next, nextNext, nextNextNext);
             }
-            if (_paragraph != null && _paragraph.ToString() != new Paragraph().ToString() &&
-                (subtitle.Paragraphs.Count > 0 || _paragraph.EndTime.TotalMilliseconds > 0.001))
+
+            if (_paragraph?.IsDefault == false)
             {
                 subtitle.Paragraphs.Add(_paragraph);
             }
diff --git a/src/Forms/Compare.cs b/src/Forms/Compare.cs
index f5c513382..1a8636c67 100644
--- a/src/Forms/Compare.cs
+++ b/src/Forms/Compare.cs
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ namespace Nikse.SubtitleEdit.Forms
         private readonly Color _backDifferenceColor = Color.FromArgb(255, 90, 90);
         private readonly Color _foregroundDifferenceColor = Color.FromArgb(225, 0, 0);
         private bool _loadingConfig = true;
-        private static readonly string EmptyParagraphString = new Paragraph().ToString();
 
         public Compare()
         {
@@ -247,12 +246,12 @@ namespace Nikse.SubtitleEdit.Forms
                 {
                     bool addIndexToDifferences = false;
                     Utilities.GetTotalAndChangedWords(p1.Text, p2.Text, ref totalWords, ref wordsChanged, checkBoxIgnoreLineBreaks.Checked, checkBoxIgnoreFormatting.Checked, ShouldBreakToLetter());
-                    if (p1.ToString() == EmptyParagraphString)
+                    if (p1.IsDefault)
                     {
                         addIndexToDifferences = true;
                         subtitleListView1.ColorOut(index, Color.Salmon);
                     }
-                    else if (p2.ToString() == EmptyParagraphString)
+                    else if (p2.IsDefault)
                     {
                         addIndexToDifferences = true;
                         subtitleListView2.ColorOut(index, Color.Salmon);
@@ -279,12 +278,12 @@ namespace Nikse.SubtitleEdit.Forms
                 {
                     Utilities.GetTotalAndChangedWords(p1.Text, p2.Text, ref totalWords, ref wordsChanged, checkBoxIgnoreLineBreaks.Checked, checkBoxIgnoreFormatting.Checked, ShouldBreakToLetter());
                     bool addIndexToDifferences = false;
-                    if (p1.ToString() == EmptyParagraphString)
+                    if (p1.IsDefault)
                     {
                         addIndexToDifferences = true;
                         subtitleListView1.ColorOut(index, Color.Salmon);
                     }
-                    else if (p2.ToString() == EmptyParagraphString)
+                    else if (p2.IsDefault)
                     {
                         addIndexToDifferences = true;
                         subtitleListView2.ColorOut(index, Color.Salmon);
@@ -1119,7 +1118,7 @@ namespace Nikse.SubtitleEdit.Forms
 
         private string GetHtmlText(Paragraph p, string text)
         {
-            if (p.ToString() == EmptyParagraphString)
+            if (p.IsDefault)
             {
                 return string.Empty;
             }