public class Breaks { private static class Ref { String[] classes; String[] getClasses() { return classes; } private Ref(String[] classes) { this.classes = classes; } } private void testBreakFromIf(String objectClass, Ref reference) { objectClassCheck: if (objectClass != null) { String[] classes = reference.getClasses(); int size = classes.length; for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) { if (classes[i] == objectClass) break objectClassCheck; } return; } if (objectClass == null) { reference.classes = null; } } public static void main(String[] args) { (new Breaks()).testBreakFromIf("whatever", new Ref(args)); } }