diff --git a/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java b/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java
index 9eec2d7d7a..bf3251b501 100644
--- a/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java
+++ b/pmd-doc/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/docs/RuleDocGenerator.java
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ public class RuleDocGenerator {
 
         int indentation = 0;
         int strLen = stripped.length();
-        while (Character.isWhitespace(stripped.charAt(indentation)) && indentation < strLen) {
+        while (indentation < strLen && Character.isWhitespace(stripped.charAt(indentation))) {
             indentation++;
         }