Java APIs

In non-Generic code, I sometimes use Collections.EMPTY_SET:

public class Test
{
    private Set setWhichCanBeNull;

    public Test( Set setWhichCanBeNull )
    {
        this.setWhichCanBeNull = setWhichCanBeNull;
    }

    public Set getSet()
    {
        return ( setWhichCanBeNull == null )
            ? Collections.EMPTY_SET
            : setWhichCanBeNull;
    }
}

If I write this using Generics, Collections.EMPTY_SET does not work, since it does not know what type I am interested in:

public class Test<E>
{
    private Set<E> setWhichCanBeNull;

    public Test( Set<E> setWhichCanBeNull )
    {
        this.setWhichCanBeNull = setWhichCanBeNull;
    }

    public Set<E> getSet()
    {
        return ( setWhichCanBeNull == null )
            ? Collections.EMPTY_SET
            : setWhichCanBeNull;
    }
}

Is there any way to specify something like this:

Collections<E>.EMPTY_SET

or am I stuck with having to write:

    public Set<E> getSet()
    {
        return ( setWhichCanBeNull == null )
            ? new HashSet<E>()
            : setWhichCanBeNull;
    }

Thanks.

Geoff