diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index 8d2cfdda3..4efd27d57 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ Changes that could break older environments:
 
 Fixed bugs:
 -----------
+* <translate> was not ignoring comment lines.
+
 * Expand tasks did not behave as expected with PatternSets.
 
 * <property environment=... /> now works on OS/400.
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/i18n/Translate.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/i18n/Translate.java
index 758fade17..c9cec6fb4 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/i18n/Translate.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/i18n/Translate.java
@@ -410,8 +410,7 @@ public class Translate extends MatchingTask {
             String line = null;
             while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
                 //So long as the line isn't empty and isn't a comment...
-                if (line.trim().length() > 1 &&
-                   ('#' != line.charAt(0) || '!' != line.charAt(0))) {
+                if (line.trim().length() > 1 && '#' != line.charAt(0) && '!' != line.charAt(0)) {
                     //Legal Key-Value separators are :, = and white space.
                     int sepIndex = line.indexOf('=');
                     if (-1 == sepIndex) {