diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/ast/AbstractNode.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/ast/AbstractNode.java
index 6e77563f47..b72e7b2498 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/ast/AbstractNode.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/ast/AbstractNode.java
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractNode implements Node {
 
     @Override
     public boolean hasImageEqualTo(String image) {
-        return Objects.equals(this.image, image);
+        return Objects.equals(this.getImage(), image);
     }
 
     @Override