diff --git a/asm-commons/src/main/java/org/objectweb/asm/commons/StaticInitMerger.java b/asm-commons/src/main/java/org/objectweb/asm/commons/StaticInitMerger.java
index 70993ffc706f5c65a09a8c3310a1c3ad4308072c..b469a93e0ea903737aac2b809cfa10d8a1b5724b 100644
--- a/asm-commons/src/main/java/org/objectweb/asm/commons/StaticInitMerger.java
+++ b/asm-commons/src/main/java/org/objectweb/asm/commons/StaticInitMerger.java
@@ -32,27 +32,50 @@ import org.objectweb.asm.MethodVisitor;
 import org.objectweb.asm.Opcodes;
 
 /**
- * A {@link ClassVisitor} that merges clinit methods into a single one.
+ * A {@link ClassVisitor} that merges <clinit> methods into a single one. All the existing
+ * <clinit> methods are renamed, and a new one is created, which calls all the renamed
+ * methods.
  *
  * @author Eric Bruneton
  */
 public class StaticInitMerger extends ClassVisitor {
 
-  private String name;
+  /** The internal name of the visited class. */
+  private String owner;
 
-  private MethodVisitor clinit;
+  /** The prefix to use to rename the existing <clinit> methods. */
+  private final String renamedClinitMethodPrefix;
 
-  private final String prefix;
+  /** The number of <clinit> methods visited so far. */
+  private int numClinitMethods;
 
-  private int counter;
+  /** The MethodVisitor for the merged <clinit> method. */
+  private MethodVisitor mergedClinitVisitor;
 
-  public StaticInitMerger(final String prefix, final ClassVisitor cv) {
-    this(Opcodes.ASM6, prefix, cv);
+  /**
+   * Constructs a new {@link StaticInitMerger}. <i>Subclasses must not use this constructor</i>.
+   * Instead, they must use the {@link #StaticInitMerger(int, String, ClassVisitor)} version.
+   *
+   * @param prefix the prefix to use to rename the existing &lt;clinit&gt; methods.
+   * @param classVisitor the class visitor to which this visitor must delegate method calls. May be
+   *     null.
+   */
+  public StaticInitMerger(final String prefix, final ClassVisitor classVisitor) {
+    this(Opcodes.ASM6, prefix, classVisitor);
   }
 
-  protected StaticInitMerger(final int api, final String prefix, final ClassVisitor cv) {
-    super(api, cv);
-    this.prefix = prefix;
+  /**
+   * Constructs a new {@link StaticInitMerger}.
+   *
+   * @param api the ASM API version implemented by this visitor. Must be one of {@link
+   *     Opcodes#ASM4}, {@link Opcodes#ASM5} or {@link Opcodes#ASM6}.
+   * @param prefix the prefix to use to rename the existing &lt;clinit&gt; methods.
+   * @param classVisitor the class visitor to which this visitor must delegate method calls. May be
+   *     null.
+   */
+  protected StaticInitMerger(final int api, final String prefix, final ClassVisitor classVisitor) {
+    super(api, classVisitor);
+    this.renamedClinitMethodPrefix = prefix;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -63,39 +86,39 @@ public class StaticInitMerger extends ClassVisitor {
       final String signature,
       final String superName,
       final String[] interfaces) {
-    cv.visit(version, access, name, signature, superName, interfaces);
-    this.name = name;
+    super.visit(version, access, name, signature, superName, interfaces);
+    this.owner = name;
   }
 
   @Override
   public MethodVisitor visitMethod(
       final int access,
       final String name,
-      final String desc,
+      final String descriptor,
       final String signature,
       final String[] exceptions) {
-    MethodVisitor mv;
+    MethodVisitor methodVisitor;
     if ("<clinit>".equals(name)) {
-      int a = Opcodes.ACC_PRIVATE + Opcodes.ACC_STATIC;
-      String n = prefix + counter++;
-      mv = cv.visitMethod(a, n, desc, signature, exceptions);
+      int newAccess = Opcodes.ACC_PRIVATE + Opcodes.ACC_STATIC;
+      String newName = renamedClinitMethodPrefix + numClinitMethods++;
+      methodVisitor = super.visitMethod(newAccess, newName, descriptor, signature, exceptions);
 
-      if (clinit == null) {
-        clinit = cv.visitMethod(a, name, desc, null, null);
+      if (mergedClinitVisitor == null) {
+        mergedClinitVisitor = super.visitMethod(newAccess, name, descriptor, null, null);
       }
-      clinit.visitMethodInsn(Opcodes.INVOKESTATIC, this.name, n, desc, false);
+      mergedClinitVisitor.visitMethodInsn(Opcodes.INVOKESTATIC, owner, newName, descriptor, false);
     } else {
-      mv = cv.visitMethod(access, name, desc, signature, exceptions);
+      methodVisitor = super.visitMethod(access, name, descriptor, signature, exceptions);
     }
-    return mv;
+    return methodVisitor;
   }
 
   @Override
   public void visitEnd() {
-    if (clinit != null) {
-      clinit.visitInsn(Opcodes.RETURN);
-      clinit.visitMaxs(0, 0);
+    if (mergedClinitVisitor != null) {
+      mergedClinitVisitor.visitInsn(Opcodes.RETURN);
+      mergedClinitVisitor.visitMaxs(0, 0);
     }
-    cv.visitEnd();
+    super.visitEnd();
   }
 }