diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuItemUIBase.java b/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuItemUIBase.java
index 7991b7f9..4c11f985 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuItemUIBase.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuItemUIBase.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * MIT License
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2021 Jannis Weis
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2023 Jannis Weis
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
  * associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicMenuItemUI;
 import com.github.weisj.darklaf.compatibility.MenuItemLayoutHelper;
 import com.github.weisj.darklaf.ui.UIAction;
 import com.github.weisj.darklaf.ui.util.LazyActionMap;
+import com.github.weisj.darklaf.util.PropertyUtil;
 
 /**
  * @author Konstantin Bulenkov
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ public class DarkMenuItemUIBase extends BasicMenuItemUI implements MenuItemUI {
     public void installUI(final JComponent c) {
         super.installUI(c);
         closeOnClick = !UIManager.getBoolean(getPropertyPrefix() + ".doNotCloseOnMouseClick");
-        useEvenHeight = !Boolean.TRUE.equals(UIManager.get(getPropertyPrefix() + ".evenHeight"));
+        useEvenHeight = PropertyUtil.parseBooleanProperty(UIManager.get(getPropertyPrefix() + ".evenHeight"), true);
         acceleratorTextOffset = UIManager.getInt(getPropertyPrefix() + ".acceleratorTextOffset");
         acceleratorFont = UIManager.getFont("MenuItem.font");
         acceleratorForeground = UIManager.getColor("MenuItem.foreground");
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuUI.java b/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuUI.java
index 3d027e42..e90d953d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuUI.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/ui/menu/DarkMenuUI.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * MIT License
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2021 Jannis Weis
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2023 Jannis Weis
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
  * associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicMenuUI;
 
 import com.github.weisj.darklaf.compatibility.MenuItemLayoutHelper;
 import com.github.weisj.darklaf.delegate.MouseInputDelegate;
+import com.github.weisj.darklaf.util.PropertyUtil;
 
 public class DarkMenuUI extends BasicMenuUI implements MenuItemUI {
 
@@ -103,7 +104,7 @@ public class DarkMenuUI extends BasicMenuUI implements MenuItemUI {
         acceleratorSelectionForeground = UIManager.getColor("Menu.selectionForeground");
         arrowIconHover = UIManager.getIcon("Menu.arrowHover.icon");
         arrowIconDisabled = UIManager.getIcon("Menu.arrowDisabled.icon");
-        useEvenHeight = !Boolean.TRUE.equals(UIManager.get(getPropertyPrefix() + ".evenHeight"));
+        useEvenHeight = PropertyUtil.parseBooleanProperty(UIManager.get(getPropertyPrefix() + ".evenHeight"), true);
         acceleratorTextOffset = UIManager.getInt(getPropertyPrefix() + ".acceleratorTextOffset");
     }
 
diff --git a/utils/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/util/PropertyUtil.java b/utils/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/util/PropertyUtil.java
index 5dfa0022..28213a2b 100644
--- a/utils/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/util/PropertyUtil.java
+++ b/utils/src/main/java/com/github/weisj/darklaf/util/PropertyUtil.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * MIT License
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2019-2021 Jannis Weis
+ * Copyright (c) 2019-2023 Jannis Weis
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
  * associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
@@ -100,7 +100,11 @@ public final class PropertyUtil {
 
     public static boolean getBooleanProperty(final JComponent c, final String property, final boolean defaultValue) {
         if (c == null) return defaultValue;
-        Object obj = c.getClientProperty(property);
+        return parseBooleanProperty(c.getClientProperty(property), defaultValue);
+    }
+
+    public static boolean parseBooleanProperty(final Object value, final boolean defaultValue) {
+        Object obj = value;
         if (!(obj instanceof Boolean) && obj != null) {
             obj = Boolean.parseBoolean(obj.toString());
         }