diff --git a/api/pom.xml b/api/pom.xml
index 2d99afc..6ce5039 100644
--- a/api/pom.xml
+++ b/api/pom.xml
@@ -92,11 +92,6 @@
             <artifactId>java-jwt</artifactId>
             <version>4.4.0</version>
         </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.maven</groupId>
-            <artifactId>maven-artifact</artifactId>
-            <version>3.9.6</version>
-        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>junit</groupId>
             <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/MessageBirdServiceImpl.java b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/MessageBirdServiceImpl.java
index a5e897d..abce519 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/MessageBirdServiceImpl.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/MessageBirdServiceImpl.java
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 import com.messagebird.exceptions.UnauthorizedException;
 import com.messagebird.objects.ErrorReport;
 import com.messagebird.objects.PagedPaging;
-import org.apache.maven.artifact.versioning.ComparableVersion;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
@@ -62,7 +61,7 @@ public class MessageBirdServiceImpl implements MessageBirdService {
     private static final String[] PROTOCOL_LISTS = new String[]{"http://", "https://"};
     private static final List<String> PROTOCOLS = Arrays.asList(PROTOCOL_LISTS);
 
-    private static final ComparableVersion JAVA_VERSION = getJavaVersion();
+    private static final String JAVA_VERSION = getJavaVersion();
 
     // Indicates whether we've overridden HttpURLConnection's behaviour to
     // allow PATCH requests yet. Also see docs on allowPatchRequestsIfNeeded().
@@ -89,13 +88,9 @@ public MessageBirdServiceImpl(final String accessKey, final String serviceUrl) {
 
     }
 
-    private static ComparableVersion getJavaVersion() {
-        try {
-            String version = System.getProperty("java.version");
-            return new ComparableVersion(version);
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-            return new ComparableVersion("0.0");
-        }
+    private static String getJavaVersion() {
+        String version = System.getProperty("java.version");
+        return version != null ? version : "0.0";
     }
 
     private String determineUserAgentString() {
@@ -637,11 +632,7 @@ private void setAdditionalHeaders(HttpURLConnection connection, Map<String, Stri
     }
 
     private DateFormat getDateFormat() {
-        ComparableVersion java6 = new ComparableVersion("1.6");
-        if (JAVA_VERSION.compareTo(java6) > 0) {
-            return new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssXXX");
-        }
-        return new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZZZ");
+        return new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssXXX");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -798,4 +789,4 @@ private String getPathVariables(final Map<String, Object> map) {
         }
         return bpath.toString();
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/common/StringUtils.java b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/common/StringUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f59ecd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/common/StringUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package com.messagebird.common;
+
+public class StringUtils {
+
+    private StringUtils() {
+        // static utility
+    }
+
+    public static boolean isBlank(String text) {
+        return text == null || text.trim().isEmpty();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/conversations/MessageParam.java b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/conversations/MessageParam.java
index 38ae18f..6a84526 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/conversations/MessageParam.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/conversations/MessageParam.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package com.messagebird.objects.conversations;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import com.messagebird.common.StringUtils;
 
 public class MessageParam {
 
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/integrations/HSMComponent.java b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/integrations/HSMComponent.java
index ed93847..5f2db2d 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/integrations/HSMComponent.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/com/messagebird/objects/integrations/HSMComponent.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package com.messagebird.objects.integrations;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import com.messagebird.common.StringUtils;
 
 import java.util.List;