diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/Rule.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/Rule.java
index feab69e2fe..ae1b811752 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/Rule.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/Rule.java
@@ -257,7 +257,8 @@ public interface Rule extends PropertySource {
      * @return the parser options
      *
      * @deprecated This was never implemented and will never be. PMD
-     *     cannot parse files once per rule.
+     *     cannot parse files once per rule. Let this method assume
+     *     its default by not overriding it.
      */
     @Deprecated
     ParserOptions getParserOptions();
diff --git a/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParserOptions.java b/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParserOptions.java
index 078105bdac..14441bcbc5 100644
--- a/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParserOptions.java
+++ b/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/XmlParserOptions.java
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.Rule;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.ParserOptions;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.BooleanProperty;
 
+/**
+ * @deprecated Parser options will be removed with 7.0, these options
+ *             will assume their default values then.
+ */
+@Deprecated
 public class XmlParserOptions extends ParserOptions {
 
     // Note: The UI order values are chosen to be larger than those built into
diff --git a/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/AbstractXmlRule.java b/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/AbstractXmlRule.java
index c144118c6d..ec76a99611 100644
--- a/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/AbstractXmlRule.java
+++ b/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/AbstractXmlRule.java
@@ -25,12 +25,19 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.BooleanProperty;
  */
 public class AbstractXmlRule extends AbstractRule implements ImmutableLanguage {
 
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty COALESCING_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.COALESCING_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty EXPAND_ENTITY_REFERENCES_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.EXPAND_ENTITY_REFERENCES_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty IGNORING_COMMENTS_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.IGNORING_COMMENTS_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty IGNORING_ELEMENT_CONTENT_WHITESPACE_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.IGNORING_ELEMENT_CONTENT_WHITESPACE_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty NAMESPACE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.NAMESPACE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty VALIDATING_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.VALIDATING_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty XINCLUDE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.XINCLUDE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR;
 
     public AbstractXmlRule() {
diff --git a/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/XmlXPathRule.java b/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/XmlXPathRule.java
index ff9eb847ad..11baa84e60 100644
--- a/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/XmlXPathRule.java
+++ b/pmd-xml/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/xml/rule/XmlXPathRule.java
@@ -17,12 +17,19 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.BooleanProperty;
 @Deprecated
 public class XmlXPathRule extends XPathRule {
 
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty COALESCING_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.COALESCING_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty EXPAND_ENTITY_REFERENCES_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.EXPAND_ENTITY_REFERENCES_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty IGNORING_COMMENTS_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.IGNORING_COMMENTS_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty IGNORING_ELEMENT_CONTENT_WHITESPACE_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.IGNORING_ELEMENT_CONTENT_WHITESPACE_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty NAMESPACE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.NAMESPACE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty VALIDATING_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.VALIDATING_DESCRIPTOR;
+    @Deprecated
     public static final BooleanProperty XINCLUDE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR = XmlParserOptions.XINCLUDE_AWARE_DESCRIPTOR;
 
     public XmlXPathRule() {