diff --git a/core/snmp/api/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/AbstractSnmpValue.java b/core/snmp/api/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/AbstractSnmpValue.java
index 97b9d876bf45..663f40581853 100644
--- a/core/snmp/api/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/AbstractSnmpValue.java
+++ b/core/snmp/api/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/AbstractSnmpValue.java
@@ -30,12 +30,30 @@
 
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
-import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.lang.CharUtils;
 
 public abstract class AbstractSnmpValue implements SnmpValue {
 
     public static boolean allBytesPlainAscii(final byte[] bytes) {
-        return StringUtils.isAsciiPrintable(new String(bytes, Charset.defaultCharset()));
+        if (bytes == null) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        final String str = new String(bytes, Charset.defaultCharset());
+        final int sz = str.length();
+
+        for(int i = 0; i < sz; ++i) {
+            // check whether character is between 31 and 127
+            final boolean isDisplayable = CharUtils.isAsciiPrintable(str.charAt(i));
+            // check for null terminated string
+            final boolean isNullTerminated = str.charAt(i) == 0 && i == sz-1;
+
+            if (!isDisplayable && !isNullTerminated) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return true;
     }
 
     public static boolean allBytesDisplayable(final byte[] bytes) {
diff --git a/core/snmp/impl-mock/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/MockSnmpValue.java b/core/snmp/impl-mock/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/MockSnmpValue.java
index 92fd460414bc..f8a78bc1e8ee 100644
--- a/core/snmp/impl-mock/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/MockSnmpValue.java
+++ b/core/snmp/impl-mock/src/main/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/MockSnmpValue.java
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public String toHexString() {
         
                 @Override
         public boolean isDisplayable() {
-            return allBytesDisplayable(getBytes());
+            return allBytesPlainAscii(getBytes());
         }
 
     }
diff --git a/core/snmp/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/SnmpValueTest.java b/core/snmp/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/SnmpValueTest.java
index 0b54faa9a1db..0512de96dff6 100644
--- a/core/snmp/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/SnmpValueTest.java
+++ b/core/snmp/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/opennms/netmgt/snmp/mock/SnmpValueTest.java
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ public void testOtherAddressOctetString() {
             final SnmpValue value = factory.getOctetString(rawBytes);
 
             assertArrayEquals(className + ": getOctetString bytes should match", rawBytes, value.getBytes());
-            assertTrue(className + ": getOctetString displayable should be true", value.isDisplayable());
+            assertFalse(className + ": getOctetString displayable should be false", value.isDisplayable());
             assertEquals(className + ": getOctetString to String should return " + stringBytes, stringBytes, value.toString());
             assertEquals(className + ": getOctetString to DisplayString should return " + stringBytes, stringBytes, value.toDisplayString());
             assertEquals(className + ": getOctetString to HexString should return " + hexString, hexString, value.toHexString());