diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/hiveOperators.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/hiveOperators.scala
index f141139ef46a8..d263c312960a9 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/hiveOperators.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/hiveOperators.scala
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ case class HiveTableScan(
   }
 
   private def unwrapHiveData(value: Any) = value match {
-    case maybeNull: String if maybeNull.toLowerCase == "null" => null
     case varchar: HiveVarchar => varchar.getValue
     case decimal: HiveDecimal => BigDecimal(decimal.bigDecimalValue)
     case other => other