diff --git a/pmd/etc/changelog.txt b/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
index f3799ae254..5412ed73ab 100644
--- a/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
+++ b/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ???? - 4.2.6:
 
+Fixed bug 1808110 - Fixed performance issue on PreserveStackTrace
 Fixed bug 2832322 -  cpd.xml file tag path attribute should be entity-encoded
 Fixed bug 2590258 - NPE with nicerhtml output
 Fixed bug 2317099 - False + in SimplifyCondition
diff --git a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/rules/design/PreserveStackTrace.java b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/rules/design/PreserveStackTrace.java
index 9c38432c91..36d19e6177 100644
--- a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/rules/design/PreserveStackTrace.java
+++ b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/rules/design/PreserveStackTrace.java
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ public class PreserveStackTrace extends AbstractJavaRule {
 		// In case of NPE...
 		if ( node != null && node.getImage() != null )
 		{
-			List <Node> nodes = catchStmt.findChildNodesWithXPath("descendant::StatementExpression/PrimaryExpression/PrimaryPrefix/Name[@Image = '" + node.getImage() + ".initCause']");
+			List <Node> nodes = catchStmt.findChildNodesWithXPath("./Block/BlockStatement/Statement/StatementExpression/PrimaryExpression/PrimaryPrefix/Name[@Image = '" + node.getImage() + ".initCause']");
 			if ( nodes != null && nodes.size() > 0 )
 			{
 				return true;