diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/performance.xml b/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/performance.xml
index 92f6d98e74..b9c61b80b5 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/performance.xml
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/resources/category/java/performance.xml
@@ -698,9 +698,9 @@ public class C {
           class="net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.XPathRule"
           externalInfoUrl="${pmd.website.baseurl}/pmd_rules_java_performance.html#simplifystartswith">
         <description>
-Since it passes in a literal of length 1, calls to (string).startsWith can be rewritten using (string).charAt(0)
-at the expense of some readability. To prevent IndexOutOfBoundsException being thrown by the charAt method,
-ensure that the (string) is not empty by making an additional check first.
+Calls to `string.startsWith("x")` with a string literal of length 1 can be rewritten using `string.charAt(0)`,
+at the expense of some readability. To prevent `IndexOutOfBoundsException` being thrown by the `charAt` method,
+ensure that the string is not empty by making an additional check first.
         </description>
         <priority>3</priority>
         <properties>