diff --git a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/sasl/SASLMechanism.java b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/sasl/SASLMechanism.java
index 8a5767740..cebd1bd12 100644
--- a/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/sasl/SASLMechanism.java
+++ b/source/org/jivesoftware/smack/sasl/SASLMechanism.java
@@ -263,9 +263,6 @@ public abstract class SASLMechanism implements CallbackHandler {
             if (authenticationText != null) {
                 stanza.append(authenticationText);
             }
-            else {
-                stanza.append("=");
-            }
             stanza.append("</response>");
             return stanza.toString();
         }