diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java
index 66a88a7721..082150668a 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner;
 
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyList;
+import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.DesignerUtil.*;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@ public class SourceEditorController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerContr
 
     @Override
     protected void afterParentInit() {
-        DesignerUtil.rewire(astManager.languageVersionProperty(), languageVersionUIProperty);
+        rewire(astManager.languageVersionProperty(), languageVersionUIProperty);
         nodeEditionCodeArea.moveCaret(0, 0);
     }
 
@@ -121,7 +122,7 @@ public class SourceEditorController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerContr
 
         ToggleGroup languageToggleGroup = new ToggleGroup();
 
-        DesignerUtil.getSupportedLanguageVersions()
+        getSupportedLanguageVersions()
                     .stream()
                     .sorted(LanguageVersion::compareTo)
                     .map(lv -> {
@@ -134,9 +135,9 @@ public class SourceEditorController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerContr
                         languageSelectionMenuButton.getItems().add(item);
                     });
 
-        languageVersionUIProperty = DesignerUtil.mapToggleGroupToUserData(languageToggleGroup, DesignerUtil::defaultLanguageVersion);
+        languageVersionUIProperty = mapToggleGroupToUserData(languageToggleGroup, DesignerUtil::defaultLanguageVersion);
         // this will be overwritten by property restore if needed
-        languageVersionUIProperty.setValue(DesignerUtil.defaultLanguageVersion());
+        languageVersionUIProperty.setValue(defaultLanguageVersion());
     }
 
     /**
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ public class SourceEditorController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerContr
         try {
             current = astManager.updateIfChanged(source, auxclasspathClassLoader.getValue());
         } catch (ParseAbortedException e) {
-            astTitledPane.setTitle("Abstract syntax tree (error)");
+            editorTitledPane.errorMessageProperty().setValue(sanitizeExceptionMessage(e));
             return Optional.empty();
         }
 
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ public class SourceEditorController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerContr
 
     private void setUpToDateCompilationUnit(Node node) {
         parent.invalidateAst();
-        astTitledPane.setTitle("Abstract syntax tree");
+        editorTitledPane.errorMessageProperty().setValue("");
         ASTTreeItem root = ASTTreeItem.getRoot(node);
         astTreeView.setRoot(root);
     }
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/XPathPanelController.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/XPathPanelController.java
index f545ba8725..455a9224b2 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/XPathPanelController.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/XPathPanelController.java
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner;
 
 
+import static net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.DesignerUtil.sanitizeExceptionMessage;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -82,7 +84,6 @@ import javafx.stage.StageStyle;
  */
 public class XPathPanelController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerController> implements NodeSelectionSource {
 
-    private static final Pattern EXCEPTION_PREFIX_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?:(?:\\w+\\.)*\\w+:\\s*)*\\s*(.*)$", Pattern.DOTALL);
     private static final String NO_MATCH_MESSAGE = "No match in text";
     private static final Duration XPATH_REFRESH_DELAY = Duration.ofMillis(100);
     private final XPathEvaluator xpathEvaluator = new XPathEvaluator();
@@ -372,7 +373,7 @@ public class XPathPanelController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerControl
                                String emptyResultsPlaceholder) {
 
         Label emptyLabel = xpathError || otherError
-                           ? new Label(emptyResultsPlaceholder, new FontIcon("fas-exclamation"))
+                           ? new Label(emptyResultsPlaceholder, new FontIcon("fas-exclamation-triangle"))
                            : new Label(emptyResultsPlaceholder);
 
         xpathResultListView.setPlaceholder(emptyLabel);
@@ -384,9 +385,5 @@ public class XPathPanelController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerControl
     }
 
 
-    private static String sanitizeExceptionMessage(Throwable exception) {
-        Matcher matcher = EXCEPTION_PREFIX_PATTERN.matcher(exception.getMessage());
-        return matcher.matches() ? matcher.group(1) : exception.getMessage();
-    }
 
 }
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/DesignerUtil.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/DesignerUtil.java
index 50f9b561d4..0f3c80b97a 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/DesignerUtil.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/DesignerUtil.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ import javafx.util.StringConverter;
  */
 public final class DesignerUtil {
 
+    private static final Pattern EXCEPTION_PREFIX_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("(?:(?:\\w+\\.)*\\w+:\\s*)*\\s*(.*)$", Pattern.DOTALL);
 
     private static final Path PMD_SETTINGS_DIR = Paths.get(System.getProperty("user.home"), ".pmd");
     private static final File DESIGNER_SETTINGS_FILE = PMD_SETTINGS_DIR.resolve("designer.xml").toFile();
@@ -288,6 +289,11 @@ public final class DesignerUtil {
     }
 
 
+    public static String sanitizeExceptionMessage(Throwable exception) {
+        Matcher matcher = EXCEPTION_PREFIX_PATTERN.matcher(exception.getMessage());
+        return matcher.matches() ? matcher.group(1) : exception.getMessage();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Works out an xpath query that matches the node
      * which was being visited during the failure.