word choice - "This box of matches is empty"


There are several Japanese books teaching Japanese students how to write in English. I found this example in 『英作文参考書の誤りを正す』 (Correcting Errors in English Composition Manuals) by Michio Kawakami and J.D. Monkman.


The authors of this book claim that this sentence is incorrect:



This box of matches is empty.



They note that a “box of matches” is a box containing matches (and not a box made for keeping matches), hence the sentence should instead be:



This matchbox is empty.



Likewise, an “empty bottle of beer” should instead be an “empty beer bottle.”


Is this actually an error that I should avoid in writing English? If so, is it a grammatical error or something else?




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