diff --git a/.ci/files/all-java.xml b/.ci/files/all-java.xml
index dc6998b35f..4c957a82ea 100644
--- a/.ci/files/all-java.xml
+++ b/.ci/files/all-java.xml
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@
     <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidAssertAsIdentifier"/>
     <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidBranchingStatementAsLastInLoop"/>
     <!-- <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidCallingFinalize"/> -->
-    <!-- <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidCatchingNPE"/> -->
+    <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidCatchingNPE"/>
     <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidCatchingThrowable"/>
     <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidDecimalLiteralsInBigDecimalConstructor"/>
     <!-- <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml/AvoidDuplicateLiterals"/> -->
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/errorprone.xml b/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/errorprone.xml
index 5cd2677d96..9270836cbf 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/errorprone.xml
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/errorprone.xml
@@ -223,8 +223,7 @@ original error, causing other, more subtle problems later on.
             <property name="xpath">
                 <value>
 <![CDATA[
-//CatchStatement/FormalParameter/Type
- /ReferenceType/ClassOrInterfaceType[@Image='NullPointerException']
+//CatchClause/CatchParameter/ClassOrInterfaceType[pmd-java:typeIsExactly('java.lang.NullPointerException')]
 ]]>
                 </value>
             </property>
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/AvoidCatchingNPETest.java b/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/AvoidCatchingNPETest.java
index e66b95ec6f..18892011f0 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/AvoidCatchingNPETest.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/AvoidCatchingNPETest.java
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.errorprone;
 
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.testframework.PmdRuleTst;
 
-@org.junit.Ignore("Rule has not been updated yet")
 public class AvoidCatchingNPETest extends PmdRuleTst {
     // no additional unit tests
 }
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/AvoidCatchingNPE.xml b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/AvoidCatchingNPE.xml
index a7db07040e..d28d6dacf2 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/AvoidCatchingNPE.xml
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/AvoidCatchingNPE.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
     <test-code>
         <description>failure case</description>
         <expected-problems>1</expected-problems>
+        <expected-linenumbers>4</expected-linenumbers>
         <code><![CDATA[
 public class Foo {
     void bar() {
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ public class Foo {
         } catch (FooException e) {
         }
     }
+    public static class FooException extends NullPointerException {}
 }
         ]]></code>
     </test-code>