diff --git a/docs/pages/release_notes_pmd7.md b/docs/pages/release_notes_pmd7.md
index 3e267577b5..e57d6c827a 100644
--- a/docs/pages/release_notes_pmd7.md
+++ b/docs/pages/release_notes_pmd7.md
@@ -1129,6 +1129,7 @@ The annotation `@DeprecatedUntil700` has been removed.
     * `hasOverriddenProperty(PropertyDescriptor)` - use {%jdoc core::lang.rule.RuleReference#isPropertyOverridden(core::properties.PropertyDescriptor) %} instead.
   * {%jdoc core::lang.rule.xpath.XPathRule %}
     * The constant `XPATH_DESCRIPTOR` has been made private and is not accessible anymore.
+    * The default constructor has been made package-private and is not accessible anymore.
   * {%jdoc core::lang.Language %} - method `getTerseName()` removed. Use {%jdoc core::lang.Language#getId() %} instead.
   * {%jdoc core::lang.LanguageModuleBase %} - method `getTerseName()` removed. Use {%jdoc core::lang.LanguageModuleBase#getId() %} instead.
   * {%jdoc core::lang.LanguageRegistry %} - the following methods have been removed:
diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/InternalApiBridge.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/InternalApiBridge.java
index bad7bf8168..6051910342 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/InternalApiBridge.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/InternalApiBridge.java
@@ -24,4 +24,8 @@ public final class InternalApiBridge {
     public static String replacementIfDeprecated(Attribute attribute) {
         return attribute.replacementIfDeprecated();
     }
+
+    public static XPathRule newXPathRule() {
+        return new XPathRule();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/XPathRule.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/XPathRule.java
index dec9726fc8..4fbef8e9ae 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/XPathRule.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/XPathRule.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.PropertyDescriptor;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.PropertyFactory;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.reporting.RuleContext;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.IteratorUtil;
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.internal.ResourceLoader;
 
 
 /**
@@ -51,12 +52,10 @@ public final class XPathRule extends AbstractRule {
 
 
     /**
-     * @deprecated This is now only used by the ruleset loader. When
-     *     we have syntactic sugar for XPath rules in the XML, we won't
-     *     need this anymore.
+     * This is only used by the ruleset loader.
+     * @see ResourceLoader#loadRuleFromClassPath(String)
      */
-    @Deprecated
-    public XPathRule() {
+    XPathRule() {
         definePropertyDescriptor(XPATH_DESCRIPTOR);
     }
 
diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/internal/ResourceLoader.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/internal/ResourceLoader.java
index e76576c78e..15dfa27989 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/internal/ResourceLoader.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/internal/ResourceLoader.java
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.NonNull;
 import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;
 
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.Rule;
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.xpath.InternalApiBridge;
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.xpath.XPathRule;
 
 /**
  * @apiNote  Internal API
@@ -129,6 +131,9 @@ public class ResourceLoader {
      * Load the rule from the classloader from resource loader, consistent with the ruleset
      */
     public Rule loadRuleFromClassPath(final String clazz) throws ClassNotFoundException, IllegalAccessException, InstantiationException {
+        if (XPathRule.class.getName().equals(clazz)) {
+            return InternalApiBridge.newXPathRule();
+        }
         return (Rule) classLoader.loadClass(clazz).newInstance();
     }
 }