diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/LanguageModuleBase.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/LanguageModuleBase.java
index fd997eccd0..c6c98922b7 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/LanguageModuleBase.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/LanguageModuleBase.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang;
 
+import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.CollectionUtil.emptyList;
 import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.CollectionUtil.setOf;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -22,6 +23,8 @@ import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.NonNull;
 import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;
 
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.PmdCapableLanguage;
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.LanguageModuleBase.LanguageMetadata.LangVersionMetadata;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.AssertionUtil;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.StringUtil;
 
@@ -55,7 +58,13 @@ public abstract class LanguageModuleBase implements Language {
         LanguageVersion defaultVersion = null;
 
         if (metadata.versionMetadata.isEmpty()) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("No versions for '" + getId() + "'");
+            if (this instanceof PmdCapableLanguage) {
+                // pmd languages need to have versions
+                throw new IllegalStateException("No versions for '" + getId() + "'");
+            } else {
+                // for others, a version is declared implicitly
+                metadata.versionMetadata.add(new LangVersionMetadata());
+            }
         }
 
         int i = 0;
@@ -374,6 +383,12 @@ public abstract class LanguageModuleBase implements Language {
             final List<String> aliases;
             final boolean isDefault;
 
+            private LangVersionMetadata() {
+                this.name = "";
+                this.aliases = emptyList();
+                this.isDefault = true;
+            }
+
             private LangVersionMetadata(String name, List<String> aliases, boolean isDefault) {
                 checkVersionName(name);
                 for (String alias : aliases) {
diff --git a/pmd-dart/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/dart/DartLanguageModule.java b/pmd-dart/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/dart/DartLanguageModule.java
index b137f4dece..baffacee31 100644
--- a/pmd-dart/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/dart/DartLanguageModule.java
+++ b/pmd-dart/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/dart/DartLanguageModule.java
@@ -14,11 +14,9 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.impl.CpdOnlyLanguageModuleBase;
  */
 public class DartLanguageModule extends CpdOnlyLanguageModuleBase {
 
-    /**
-     * Creates a new Dart Language instance.
-     */
     public DartLanguageModule() {
-        super(LanguageMetadata.withId("dart").name("Dart").extensions("dart"));
+        super(LanguageMetadata.withId("dart").name("Dart").extensions("dart")
+                              .addDefaultVersion("2"));
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/pmd-xml/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParsingHelper.java b/pmd-xml/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParsingHelper.java
index 4595fb7f50..50e75ef852 100644
--- a/pmd-xml/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParsingHelper.java
+++ b/pmd-xml/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParsingHelper.java
@@ -4,10 +4,7 @@
 
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.xml;
 
-import java.sql.ParameterMetaData;
-
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.PmdCapableLanguage;
-import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.Language;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.ast.test.BaseParsingHelper;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.xml.ast.internal.XmlParserImpl.RootXmlNode;