diff --git a/dlls/msi/cond.y b/dlls/msi/cond.y
index d19127b99a9..9cfb00114fa 100644
--- a/dlls/msi/cond.y
+++ b/dlls/msi/cond.y
@@ -431,104 +431,59 @@ static INT compare_substring( LPCWSTR a, INT operator, LPCWSTR b )
     case COND_ISS:
         return strstriW( a, b ) ? 1 : 0;
     case COND_LHS:
-        return 0 == strncmpW( a, b, lstrlenW( b ) );
+    	return 0 == strncmpW( a, b, lstrlenW( b ) );
     case COND_RHS:
-        return 0 == lstrcmpW( a + (lstrlenW( a ) - lstrlenW( b )), b );
+    	return 0 == lstrcmpW( a + (lstrlenW( a ) - lstrlenW( b )), b );
     case COND_ILHS:
-        return 0 == strncmpiW( a, b, lstrlenW( b ) );
+    	return 0 == strncmpiW( a, b, lstrlenW( b ) );
     case COND_IRHS:
         return 0 == lstrcmpiW( a + (lstrlenW( a ) - lstrlenW( b )), b );
     default:
-        ERR("invalid substring operator\n");
+    	ERR("invalid substring operator\n");
         return 0;
     }
     return 0;
 }
 
-static BOOL is_empty( LPCWSTR p )
-{
-    return !p || !p[0];
-}
-
-static BOOL is_alphaless( LPCWSTR p )
-{
-    while (*p)
-    {
-        if (isalphaW( *p ) || (*p == '_'))
-             return FALSE;
-        p++;
-    }
-    return TRUE;
-}
-
 static INT compare_string( LPCWSTR a, INT operator, LPCWSTR b )
 {
-    int r;
-
     if (operator >= COND_SS && operator <= COND_RHS)
         return compare_substring( a, operator, b );
+	
+    /* null and empty string are equivalent */
+    if (!a) a = szEmpty;
+    if (!b) b = szEmpty;
 
-    if (is_empty( a ) && is_empty( b ))
-        r = 0;
-
-    else if (is_empty( a ) && is_alphaless( b ))
-        r = 1;
-
-    else if (is_empty( b ) && is_alphaless( a ))
-        r = -1;
-
-    else
-    {
-        /* null and empty string are equivalent */
-        if (!a) a = szEmpty;
-        if (!b) b = szEmpty;
-
-        switch (operator)
-        {
-        case COND_LT:
-        case COND_GT:
-        case COND_EQ:
-        case COND_NE:
-        case COND_GE:
-        case COND_LE:
-            r = lstrcmpW( a, b );
-            break;
-        case COND_ILT:
-        case COND_IGT:
-        case COND_IEQ:
-        case COND_INE:
-        case COND_IGE:
-        case COND_ILE:
-            r = lstrcmpiW( a, b );
-            break;
-        default:
-            ERR("invalid string operator\n");
-            return 0;
-        }
-    }
-
+    /* a or b may be NULL */
     switch (operator)
     {
     case COND_LT:
-    case COND_ILT:
-        return -1 == r;
+        return -1 == lstrcmpW( a, b );
     case COND_GT:
-    case COND_IGT:
-        return  1 == r;
+        return  1 == lstrcmpW( a, b );
     case COND_EQ:
-    case COND_IEQ:
-        return  0 == r;
+        return  0 == lstrcmpW( a, b );
     case COND_NE:
-    case COND_INE:
-        return  0 != r;
+        return  0 != lstrcmpW( a, b );
     case COND_GE:
-    case COND_IGE:
-        return -1 != r;
+        return -1 != lstrcmpW( a, b );
     case COND_LE:
+        return  1 != lstrcmpW( a, b );
+    case COND_ILT:
+        return -1 == lstrcmpiW( a, b );
+    case COND_IGT:
+        return  1 == lstrcmpiW( a, b );
+    case COND_IEQ:
+        return  0 == lstrcmpiW( a, b );
+    case COND_INE:
+        return  0 != lstrcmpiW( a, b );
+    case COND_IGE:
+        return -1 != lstrcmpiW( a, b );
     case COND_ILE:
-        return  1 != r;
+        return  1 != lstrcmpiW( a, b );
     default:
         ERR("invalid string operator\n");
+        return 0;
     }
     return 0;
 }