diff --git a/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java b/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java
index 6041e6d995..e83cfb3771 100644
--- a/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java
+++ b/pmd/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleSetFactoryTest.java
@@ -475,11 +475,11 @@ public class RuleSetFactoryTest {
 							+ " is missing 'externalInfoURL' attribute"
 							+ PMD.EOL;
 				} else {
-					String expectedExternalInfoURL = "http://pmd.sourceforge.net/snapshot/rules/"
+					String expectedExternalInfoURL = "http://pmd.sourceforge.net/.+/rules/"
 							+ fileName.replaceAll("rulesets/", "").replaceAll(
 									".xml", "") + ".html#" + rule.getName();
-					if (!expectedExternalInfoURL.equals(rule
-							.getExternalInfoUrl())) {
+					if (rule.getExternalInfoUrl() == null
+						|| !rule.getExternalInfoUrl().matches(expectedExternalInfoURL)) {
 						invalidExternalInfoURL++;
 						messages += "Rule "
 								+ fileName