diff --git a/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt b/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
index b2d4e15280..efcd789fdf 100644
--- a/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
+++ b/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
@@ -1578,7 +1578,7 @@ void TypeArgument() #void:
 void WildcardType():
 {}
 {
-    "?" [  ("extends" {jjtThis.setUpperBound(true);}| "super") AnnotatedRefType() ]
+    "?" [  ("extends" | "super"  {jjtThis.setLowerBound(true);}) AnnotatedRefType() ]
 }
 
 
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardType.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardType.java
index c66913fd3d..dc97754a65 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardType.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardType.java
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@ import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;
  */
 public final class ASTWildcardType extends AbstractJavaTypeNode implements ASTReferenceType {
 
-    private boolean isUpperBound;
+    private boolean isLowerBound;
 
     ASTWildcardType(int id) {
         super(id);
     }
 
-    void setUpperBound(boolean upperBound) {
-        isUpperBound = upperBound;
+    void setLowerBound(boolean lowerBound) {
+        isLowerBound = lowerBound;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -34,11 +34,12 @@ public final class ASTWildcardType extends AbstractJavaTypeNode implements ASTRe
     }
 
     /**
-     * Returns true if this is an upper type bound, e.g.
-     * in {@code <? extends Integer>}.
+     * Return true if this is an upper type bound, e.g.
+     * {@code <? extends Integer>}, or the unbounded
+     * wildcard {@code <?>}.
      */
-    public boolean hasUpperBound() {
-        return isUpperBound && getNumChildren() > 0;
+    public boolean isUpperBound() {
+        return !isLowerBound;
     }
 
 
@@ -46,18 +47,18 @@ public final class ASTWildcardType extends AbstractJavaTypeNode implements ASTRe
      * Returns true if this is a lower type bound, e.g.
      * in {@code <? super Node>}.
      */
-    public boolean hasLowerBound() {
-        return !isUpperBound && getNumChildren() > 0;
+    public boolean isLowerBound() {
+        return isLowerBound;
     }
 
 
     /**
      * Returns the type node representing the bound, e.g.
-     * the {@code Node} in {@code <? super Node>}, or null.
+     * the {@code Node} in {@code <? super Node>}, or null in
+     * the unbounded wildcard {@code <?>}.
      */
-    @Nullable
-    public ASTReferenceType getTypeBoundNode() {
-        return getFirstChildOfType(ASTReferenceType.class);
+    public @Nullable ASTReferenceType getTypeBoundNode() {
+        return firstChild(ASTReferenceType.class);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/TypesFromAst.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/TypesFromAst.java
index 57e2bd98a5..8a664dc6b3 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/TypesFromAst.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/TypesFromAst.java
@@ -64,13 +64,10 @@ final class TypesFromAst {
 
             ASTWildcardType wild = (ASTWildcardType) node;
             @Nullable JTypeMirror bound = fromAst(ts, lexicalSubst, wild.getTypeBoundNode());
-            boolean isUpperBound = true;
             if (bound == null) {
                 bound = ts.OBJECT;
-            } else {
-                isUpperBound = wild.hasUpperBound();
             }
-            return ts.wildcard(isUpperBound, bound).withAnnotations(getTypeAnnotations(node));
+            return ts.wildcard(wild.isUpperBound(), bound).withAnnotations(getTypeAnnotations(node));
 
 
         } else if (node instanceof ASTIntersectionType) {
@@ -264,7 +261,6 @@ final class TypesFromAst {
         PSet<SymAnnot> annotsOnType = getSymbolicAnnotations(type);
         Annotatable parent = getEnclosingAnnotationGiver(type);
         if (parent != null) {
-            // todo parent annots should be filtered by target TYPE_USE
             PSet<SymAnnot> parentAnnots = getSymbolicAnnotations(parent);
             for (SymAnnot parentAnnot : parentAnnots) {
                 if (parentAnnot.appliesToTypeUse()) {
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java
index ad12ee78bd..0e1945919c 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/internal/PrettyPrintingUtil.java
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ public final class PrettyPrintingUtil {
             sb.append("?");
             ASTReferenceType bound = ((ASTWildcardType) t).getTypeBoundNode();
             if (bound != null) {
-                sb.append(((ASTWildcardType) t).hasLowerBound() ? " super " : " extends ");
+                sb.append(((ASTWildcardType) t).isLowerBound() ? " super " : " extends ");
                 prettyPrintTypeNode(sb, bound);
             }
         } else if (t instanceof ASTUnionType) {
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/kotlin/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardTypeTest.kt b/pmd-java/src/test/kotlin/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardTypeTest.kt
index 2c8042e136..7a30b86ed3 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/kotlin/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardTypeTest.kt
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/kotlin/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ASTWildcardTypeTest.kt
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ class ASTWildcardTypeTest : ParserTestSpec({
                 classType("List") {
                     typeArgList {
                         child<ASTWildcardType> {
-                            it::hasUpperBound shouldBe true
-                            it::hasLowerBound shouldBe false
+                            it::isUpperBound shouldBe true
+                            it::isLowerBound shouldBe false
 
                             it::getTypeBoundNode shouldBe classType("B")
                         }
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ class ASTWildcardTypeTest : ParserTestSpec({
                 classType("List") {
                     typeArgList {
                         child<ASTWildcardType> {
-                            it::hasUpperBound shouldBe false
-                            it::hasLowerBound shouldBe true
+                            it::isUpperBound shouldBe false
+                            it::isLowerBound shouldBe true
 
                             it::getTypeBoundNode shouldBe classType("B")
                         }
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ class ASTWildcardTypeTest : ParserTestSpec({
                 classType("List") {
                     typeArgList {
                         child<ASTWildcardType> {
-                            it::hasUpperBound shouldBe false
-                            it::hasLowerBound shouldBe false
+                            it::isUpperBound shouldBe true
+                            it::isLowerBound shouldBe false
 
                             it::getTypeBoundNode shouldBe null
                         }
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ class ASTWildcardTypeTest : ParserTestSpec({
                             annotation("A")
                             annotation("B")
 
-                            it::hasUpperBound shouldBe true
-                            it::hasLowerBound shouldBe false
+                            it::isUpperBound shouldBe true
+                            it::isLowerBound shouldBe false
 
                             it::getTypeBoundNode shouldBe classType("B") {
                                 annotation("C")