diff --git a/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt b/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
index 3d4765cd61..86bb21588a 100644
--- a/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
+++ b/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
@@ -1541,8 +1541,8 @@ void FormalParameter() :
 }
 {
    ( "final" {jjtThis.setFinal(true);} | Annotation() )*
-   Type() ("|" {checkForBadMultipleExceptionsCatching();} Type())*
-   [ "..." {checkForBadVariableArgumentsUsage();} {jjtThis.setVarargs();} ]
+   Type() ("|" {checkForBadMultipleExceptionsCatching();} (AnnotationNoNode())* Type())*
+   [ (AnnotationNoNode())* "..." {checkForBadVariableArgumentsUsage();} {jjtThis.setVarargs();} ]
    VariableDeclaratorId()
 }
 
@@ -1586,18 +1586,16 @@ void Type():
     Token t;
 }
 {
- LOOKAHEAD(2) ReferenceType()
+ LOOKAHEAD(<IDENTIFIER> | PrimitiveType() (AnnotationNoNode())* "[" "]" ) ReferenceType()
  | PrimitiveType()
 }
 
 void ReferenceType():
 {}
 {
-  // The grammar here is mildly wrong, the annotations can be before each []
-  // This will wait for #997
-   PrimitiveType() (TypeAnnotation())* ( LOOKAHEAD(2) "[" "]" { jjtThis.bumpArrayDepth(); })+
+   PrimitiveType() (LOOKAHEAD((AnnotationNoNode())* "[" "]") (AnnotationNoNode())* "[" "]" { jjtThis.bumpArrayDepth(); })+
   |
-   ( ClassOrInterfaceType()) (TypeAnnotation())* ( LOOKAHEAD(2) "[" "]" { jjtThis.bumpArrayDepth(); })*
+   ClassOrInterfaceType()  (LOOKAHEAD((AnnotationNoNode())* "[" "]") (AnnotationNoNode())* "[" "]" { jjtThis.bumpArrayDepth(); })*
 }
 
 void ClassOrInterfaceType():
@@ -1989,8 +1987,8 @@ void PrimaryPrefix() :
 | LOOKAHEAD(3) "(" Expression() ")"
 | AllocationExpression()
 | LOOKAHEAD( ResultType() "." "class" ) ResultType() "." "class"
-| LOOKAHEAD( Name() "::" ) Name()
-| LOOKAHEAD( ReferenceType() MethodReference() ) ReferenceType() MethodReference()
+| LOOKAHEAD( Name() "::" ) Name() // followed by method reference in PrimarySuffix
+| LOOKAHEAD( "@" | Type() "::" ) (AnnotationNoNode())* (LOOKAHEAD(2) ReferenceType()|PrimitiveType()) // followed by method reference in PrimarySuffix
 | Name()
 }
 
@@ -2533,6 +2531,15 @@ void RSIGNEDSHIFT(): // TODO 7.0.0 make #void
 
 /* Annotation syntax follows. */
 
+
+// Todo PMD7 remove this, this is transitional in the PMD6 branch.
+void AnnotationNoNode() #void:
+{checkForBadTypeAnnotations();}
+{
+    Annotation()
+    {jjtree.popNode();}
+}
+
 void Annotation():
 {}
 {
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornersTest.java b/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornersTest.java
index 686e9f3c6c..ecdb31ef3c 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornersTest.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornersTest.java
@@ -148,10 +148,10 @@ public class ParserCornersTest {
     public void testParsersCases18() throws Exception {
         ASTCompilationUnit cu = java8.parseResource("ParserCornerCases18.java");
 
-        Assert.assertEquals(21, cu.findChildNodesWithXPath("//FormalParameter").size());
-        Assert.assertEquals(4,
+        Assert.assertEquals(24, cu.findChildNodesWithXPath("//FormalParameter").size());
+        Assert.assertEquals(5,
                 cu.findChildNodesWithXPath("//FormalParameter[@ExplicitReceiverParameter='true']").size());
-        Assert.assertEquals(17,
+        Assert.assertEquals(19,
                 cu.findChildNodesWithXPath("//FormalParameter[@ExplicitReceiverParameter='false']").size());
     }
 
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases18.java b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases18.java
index d6564e90b8..8651c40fe5 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases18.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases18.java
@@ -189,6 +189,29 @@ public class ParserCornerCases18 {
         return new Object @NonNull[0];
     }
 
+    // this comes from https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/4152
+    public static <T> T[][] check(T @Anno[] @Anno [] arr) {
+        if (arr == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException();
+        }
+        return arr;
+    }
+
+    // this comes from https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/4152
+    public Function func(Main this) {
+        return @A Main.Inner::new;  // this line lead to the crash
+    }
+
+    // this comes from https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/4152
+    public static byte max(final byte @NotNull ... array) { return 0;}
+
+    // this comes from https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/4152
+    @Retention(RetentionPolicy.CLASS)
+    @Target({ TYPE_USE })
+    @interface Anno {
+    }
+
+
     private static void testMultiDimArrayWithAnnotations() {
         // ever used a 3D-Array in java??
         Object x = new Object @NonNull[2] @Nullable[1] @NonNull[3];