In http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/exceptions/tryResourceClose.html

static String readFirstLineFromFileWithFinallyBlock(String path)
                                                     throws IOException {
    BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(path));
    try {
        return br.readLine();
    } finally {
        if (br != null) br.close();
    }
}

Remove the null check; it's redundant (there is no possibility of entering try block with a non-null BufferedReader)