diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDConfiguration.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDConfiguration.java
index f0a63b4518..8c1113bb82 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDConfiguration.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDConfiguration.java
@@ -271,22 +271,22 @@ public class PMDConfiguration extends AbstractConfiguration {
     /**
      * Get the RuleSets.
      * 
-     * @return the pmdRuleSets
-     */
-    public RuleSets getPmdRuleSets() {
-        return pmdRuleSets;
-    }
+	 * @return the pmdRuleSets
+	 */
+	public RuleSets getPmdRuleSets() {
+		return pmdRuleSets;
+	}
 
-    /**
-     * Set the RuleSets
-     * 
-     * @param pmdRuleSets the pmdRuleSets to set
-     */
-    public void setPmdRuleSets(RuleSets pmdRuleSets) {
-        this.pmdRuleSets = pmdRuleSets;
-    }
+	/**
+	 * Set the RuleSets
+	 * 
+	 * @param pmdRuleSets the pmdRuleSets to set
+	 */
+	public void setPmdRuleSets(RuleSets pmdRuleSets) {
+		this.pmdRuleSets = pmdRuleSets;
+	}
 
-    /**
+	/**
      * Get the minimum priority threshold when loading Rules from RuleSets.
      * 
      * @return The minimum priority threshold.
diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactory.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactory.java
index a627fc4f01..e4f93d0693 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactory.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactory.java
@@ -104,21 +104,6 @@ public class RuleSetFactory {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Create a RuleSets from a comma separated list of RuleSet reference IDs
-     * when the parameter ruleSets is null. This is a convenience method which
-     * calls {@link RuleSetReferenceId#parse(String)}, and then calls
-     * {@link #createRuleSets(List)}. The currently configured ClassLoader is
-     * used.
-     *
-     * @param referenceString A comma separated list of RuleSet reference IDs.
-     * @return The new RuleSets.
-     * @throws RuleSetNotFoundException if unable to find a resource.
-     */
-    public synchronized RuleSets createRuleSets(String referenceString) throws RuleSetNotFoundException {
-        return createRuleSets(referenceString, null);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Create a RuleSets from a comma separated list of RuleSet reference IDs when the parameter ruleSets is null.
      * This is a convenience method which calls
@@ -128,13 +113,12 @@ public class RuleSetFactory {
      *
      * @param referenceString A comma separated list of RuleSet reference IDs.
      * @param ruleSets RuleSets initialized in PMDConfiguration.
-     * @return The new RuleSets or the rulesets from PMDConfiguration if not null
+     * @return The new RuleSets.
      * @throws RuleSetNotFoundException if unable to find a resource.
      */
     public synchronized RuleSets createRuleSets(String referenceString, RuleSets ruleSets) throws RuleSetNotFoundException {
-        if (ruleSets != null) {
-            return ruleSets;
-        }
+    	if(ruleSets != null)
+    		return ruleSets;
         return createRuleSets(RuleSetReferenceId.parse(referenceString));
     }
 
diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RulesetsFactoryUtils.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RulesetsFactoryUtils.java
index 76fab7d7eb..0e5d668454 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RulesetsFactoryUtils.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RulesetsFactoryUtils.java
@@ -15,19 +15,6 @@ public final class RulesetsFactoryUtils {
 
 	private RulesetsFactoryUtils() {}
 
-    /**
-     * Creates a new rulesets with the given string. The resulting rulesets will contain
-     * all referenced rulesets.
-     * @param rulesets the string with the rulesets to load
-     * @param factory the ruleset factory
-     * @return the rulesets
-     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if rulesets is empty (means, no rules have been found) or if a
-     * ruleset couldn't be found.
-     */
-    public static RuleSets getRuleSets(String rulesets, RuleSetFactory factory) {
-        return getRuleSets(rulesets, null, factory);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Creates a new rulesets with the given string. The resulting rulesets will contain
      * all referenced rulesets.
@@ -66,30 +53,15 @@ public final class RulesetsFactoryUtils {
      * @throws IllegalArgumentException if rulesets is empty (means, no rules have been found) or if a
      * ruleset couldn't be found.
      */
-    public static RuleSets getRuleSetsWithBenchmark(String rulesets, RuleSetFactory factory) {
-        return getRuleSetsWithBenchmark(rulesets, null, factory);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * See {@link #getRuleSets(String, RuleSetFactory)}. In addition, the loading of the rules
-     * is benchmarked.
-     * @param rulesets the string with the rulesets to load
-     * @param pmdRuleSets RuleSets initialized in PMDConfiguration
-     * @param factory the ruleset factory
-     * @return the rulesets
-     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if rulesets is empty (means, no rules have been found) or if a
-     * ruleset couldn't be found.
-     */
     public static RuleSets getRuleSetsWithBenchmark(String rulesets, RuleSets pmdRuleSets, RuleSetFactory factory) {
         long loadRuleStart = System.nanoTime();
-        RuleSets ruleSets = null;
         try {
-            ruleSets = getRuleSets(rulesets, pmdRuleSets, factory);
+        	pmdRuleSets = getRuleSets(rulesets, pmdRuleSets, factory);
         } finally {
             long endLoadRules = System.nanoTime();
             Benchmarker.mark(Benchmark.LoadRules, endLoadRules - loadRuleStart, 0);
         }
-        return ruleSets;
+        return pmdRuleSets;
     }
 
 	public static RuleSetFactory getRulesetFactory(PMDConfiguration configuration) {
diff --git a/pmd-core/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java b/pmd-core/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java
index eb0fc98403..c6b3f641d7 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public class RuleSetFactoryTest {
 	    Assert.assertNotNull("Test ruleset not found - can't continue with test!", in);
 
 	    RuleSetFactory rsf = new RuleSetFactory();
-	    RuleSets rs = rsf.createRuleSets("net/sourceforge/pmd/rulesets/reference-ruleset.xml");
+	    RuleSets rs = rsf.createRuleSets("net/sourceforge/pmd/rulesets/reference-ruleset.xml", null);
 	    // added by referencing a complete ruleset (TestRuleset1.xml)
 	    assertNotNull(rs.getRuleByName("MockRule1"));
 	    assertNotNull(rs.getRuleByName("MockRule2"));
diff --git a/pmd-test/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/testframework/RuleTst.java b/pmd-test/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/testframework/RuleTst.java
index 023bbc6d2e..f6e12f06a5 100644
--- a/pmd-test/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/testframework/RuleTst.java
+++ b/pmd-test/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/testframework/RuleTst.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public abstract class RuleTst {
      */
     public Rule findRule(String ruleSet, String ruleName) {
         try {
-            Rule rule = new RuleSetFactory().createRuleSets(ruleSet).getRuleByName(ruleName);
+            Rule rule = new RuleSetFactory().createRuleSets(ruleSet, null).getRuleByName(ruleName);
             if (rule == null) {
                 fail("Rule " + ruleName + " not found in ruleset " + ruleSet);
             }