diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/AbstractRuleViolationFactory.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/AbstractRuleViolationFactory.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 361111e08c..0000000000
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/AbstractRuleViolationFactory.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * BSD-style license; for more info see http://pmd.sourceforge.net/license.html
- */
-
-package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule;
-
-import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.impl.DefaultRuleViolationFactory;
-
-/**
- * @deprecated This is kept for binary compatibility with the 6.x designer, yet will
- *     go away in 7.0. Use {@link DefaultRuleViolationFactory}
- */
-@Deprecated
-public class AbstractRuleViolationFactory extends DefaultRuleViolationFactory {
-}