diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java
index d4fa63915a..2a8e5983c1 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/ant/PMDTaskTest.java
@@ -18,9 +18,6 @@ public class PMDTaskTest extends BuildFileTest {
 
     @Test
     public void testNoFormattersValidation() {
-        if (TestDescriptor.inRegressionTestMode()) {
-            return;
-        }
         executeTarget("testNoFormattersValidation");
         assertOutputContaining("Fields should be declared at the top of the class");
     }
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/coverage/PMDCoverageTest.java b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/coverage/PMDCoverageTest.java
index 9474ae9e17..d0134dfd85 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/coverage/PMDCoverageTest.java
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/coverage/PMDCoverageTest.java
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.PMD;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import test.net.sourceforge.pmd.testframework.TestDescriptor;
-
 public class PMDCoverageTest {
 
     /**
@@ -66,10 +64,6 @@ public class PMDCoverageTest {
      */
     @Test
     public void testResourceFileCommands() {
-	if (TestDescriptor.inRegressionTestMode()) {
-	    // skip this test if we're only running regression tests
-	    return;
-	}
 
 	InputStream is = getClass().getResourceAsStream(PMD_CONFIG_FILE);
 
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/xml/CloseResource.xml b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/xml/CloseResource.xml
index 2b98c7291c..46aba2fc8a 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/xml/CloseResource.xml
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/xml/CloseResource.xml
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 New use case
      ]]></description>
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/LocalVariableCouldBeFinal.xml b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/LocalVariableCouldBeFinal.xml
index 86ff90ae3b..8241bde619 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/LocalVariableCouldBeFinal.xml
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/LocalVariableCouldBeFinal.xml
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 Bug 2614040 : false + if a += assignment operator is used inside a method call.
      ]]></description>
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/ConsecutiveLiteralAppends.xml b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/ConsecutiveLiteralAppends.xml
index ea7452453e..41180f3e55 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/ConsecutiveLiteralAppends.xml
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/ConsecutiveLiteralAppends.xml
@@ -1147,7 +1147,7 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 42, Using variable string array
      ]]></description>
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UnusedNullCheckInEquals.xml b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UnusedNullCheckInEquals.xml
index 5f818e46ee..a9979964cb 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UnusedNullCheckInEquals.xml
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UnusedNullCheckInEquals.xml
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ if(o1!=null && o2.equals(o1.getName()) ){ }
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 shouldn't this fail? Yes, it should. Fixed it, so that method calls to equals on variables are considered, too.
      ]]></description>
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 Arrays can't be compared directly but with Arrays.equals().
      ]]></description>
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UselessParentheses.xml b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UselessParentheses.xml
index 164bdbc9d4..35a3a75220 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UselessParentheses.xml
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/unnecessary/xml/UselessParentheses.xml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 failure case, condition 2
      ]]></description>
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 false negatives
      ]]></description>
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
-    <test-code regressionTest="false">
+    <test-code>
         <description><![CDATA[
 Parentheses around binary expressions are really necessary
      ]]></description>
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/typeresolution/ClassTypeResolverTest.java b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/typeresolution/ClassTypeResolverTest.java
index 0063dfb210..60ddc61c57 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/typeresolution/ClassTypeResolverTest.java
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/typeresolution/ClassTypeResolverTest.java
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.typeresolution.ClassTypeResolver;
 import org.jaxen.JaxenException;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import test.net.sourceforge.pmd.testframework.TestDescriptor;
 import test.net.sourceforge.pmd.typeresolution.testdata.AnonymousInnerClass;
 import test.net.sourceforge.pmd.typeresolution.testdata.ArrayListFound;
 import test.net.sourceforge.pmd.typeresolution.testdata.ExtraTopLevelClass;
@@ -103,11 +102,6 @@ public class ClassTypeResolverTest {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testAnonymousInnerClass() throws ClassNotFoundException {
-		if (TestDescriptor.inRegressionTestMode()) {
-			// skip this test if we're only running regression tests
-			return;
-		}
-
 		ASTCompilationUnit acu = parseAndTypeResolveForClass(AnonymousInnerClass.class);
 		Class<?> theAnonymousInnerClass = Class.forName("test.net.sourceforge.pmd.typeresolution.testdata.AnonymousInnerClass$1");
 		// Outer class