diff --git a/system/core/URI.php b/system/core/URI.php
index 9c50251..0afb374 100755
--- a/system/core/URI.php
+++ b/system/core/URI.php
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function _filter_uri($str)
 	{
-		if ($str !== '' && $this->config->item('permitted_uri_chars') !== '' && $this->config->item('enable_query_strings') === FALSE)
+		if ($str !== '' && $this->config->item('permitted_uri_chars') != '' && $this->config->item('enable_query_strings') === FALSE)
 		{
 			// preg_quote() in PHP 5.3 escapes -, so the str_replace() and addition of - to preg_quote() is to maintain backwards
 			// compatibility as many are unaware of how characters in the permitted_uri_chars will be parsed as a regex pattern