diff --git a/lib/hierarchy.js b/lib/hierarchy.js
index 64b14a2f0..ea5948e94 100644
--- a/lib/hierarchy.js
+++ b/lib/hierarchy.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
+var hasOwnProperty = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;
+
 /**
  * @param {Array<Object>} comments an array of parsed comments
  * @returns {Array<Object>} nested comments, with only root comments
@@ -9,8 +11,8 @@ module.exports = function (comments) {
   var id = 0,
     root = {
       members: {
-        instance: {},
-        static: {}
+        instance: Object.create(null),
+        static: Object.create(null)
       }
     };
 
@@ -44,12 +46,12 @@ module.exports = function (comments) {
         scope = segment[0],
         name = segment[1];
 
-      if (!node.members[scope].hasOwnProperty(name)) {
+      if (!hasOwnProperty.call(node.members[scope], name)) {
         node.members[scope][name] = {
           comments: [],
           members: {
-            instance: {},
-            static: {}
+            instance: Object.create(null),
+            static: Object.create(null)
           }
         };
       }