diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 45e107a..cbc561d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ releaseLock() or lockItem.close()
 
 ### Acquire lock with timeout
 You can acquire a lock via two different methods: acquireLock or tryAcquireLock. The difference between the
-two methods is that tryAcquireLock will return Optional.absent() if the lock was not acquired, whereas
+two methods is that tryAcquireLock will return Optional.empty() if the lock was not acquired, whereas
 acquireLock will throw a LockNotGrantedException. Both methods provide optional parameters where you can specify
 an additional timeout for acquiring the lock. Then they will try to acquire the lock for that amount of time
 before giving up. They do this by continually polling DynamoDB according to an interval you set up. Remember that
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AcquireLockOptions.java b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AcquireLockOptions.java
index e6db1d2..e57e8df 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AcquireLockOptions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AcquireLockOptions.java
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ Map<String, AttributeValue> getAdditionalAttributes() {
     /**
      * Constructs a SessionMonitor object for LockItem instantiation
      *
-     * @return <code>Optional.absent()</code> if no call to
+     * @return <code>Optional.empty()</code> if no call to
      * {with,set}SessionMonitor was made, else a SessionMonitor object
      * with the desired properties
      */
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClient.java b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClient.java
index 9eaa688..1ded602 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClient.java
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ public AmazonDynamoDBLockClient(final AmazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions amazonDyna
         Objects.requireNonNull(amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getOwnerName(), "Owner name cannot be null");
         Objects.requireNonNull(amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getTimeUnit(), "Time unit cannot be null");
         Objects.requireNonNull(amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getPartitionKeyName(), "Partition Key Name cannot be null");
-        Objects.requireNonNull(amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getSortKeyName(), "Sort Key Name cannot be null (use Optional.absent())");
+        Objects.requireNonNull(amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getSortKeyName(), "Sort Key Name cannot be null (use Optional.empty())");
         Objects.requireNonNull(amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getNamedThreadCreator(), "Named thread creator cannot be null");
         this.dynamoDB = amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getDynamoDBClient();
         this.tableName = amazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.getTableName();
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.java b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.java
index 38c69f5..545649e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/AmazonDynamoDBLockClientOptions.java
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ String getPartitionKeyName() {
 
     /**
      * @return sortKeyName
-     * The sort key name. If this is set to Optional.absent(), then it means that the table only uses a partition key.
+     * The sort key name. If this is set to Optional.empty(), then it means that the table only uses a partition key.
      */
     Optional<String> getSortKeyName() {
         return this.sortKeyName;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/LockItem.java b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/LockItem.java
index 0702e3b..a1977a5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/LockItem.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/dynamodbv2/LockItem.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public class LockItem implements Closeable {
      * @param client                        The AmazonDynamoDBLockClient object associated with this lock
      * @param partitionKey                  The key representing the lock
      * @param sortKey                       The sort key, if the DynamoDB table supports sort keys (or
-     *                                      Optional.absent otherwise)
+     *                                      Optional.empty otherwise)
      * @param data                          The data stored in the lock (can be null)
      * @param deleteLockItemOnClose         Whether or not to delete the lock item when releasing it
      * @param ownerName                     The owner associated with the lock