A method and system of increasing the speed of a write barrier check. Instead of using zero null references, in one embodiment of the invention a special object is created at a valid and globally accessible location in memory. The special object is colored black, and the valid location of the special object is used in objects linked lists, and other elements whenever a null value is required. Preferably, the special object is colored black by coloring a bit pattern in a header of the special object to represent black.