diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/Designer.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/Designer.java
index b4705ac693..021ebdd8c6 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/Designer.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/Designer.java
@@ -10,10 +10,13 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.ArrayUtils;
+
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.PMDVersion;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.app.DesignerRoot;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.DesignerUtil;
 
+import com.sun.javafx.fxml.builder.ProxyBuilder;
 import javafx.application.Application;
 import javafx.collections.ObservableList;
 import javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader;
@@ -58,6 +61,19 @@ public class Designer extends Application {
         XPathPanelController xpathPanelController = new XPathPanelController(mainController);
         SourceEditorController sourceEditorController = new SourceEditorController(mainController);
 
+        loader.setBuilderFactory(type -> {
+
+            boolean needsRoot = Arrays.stream(type.getConstructors()).anyMatch(it -> ArrayUtils.contains(it.getParameterTypes(), DesignerRoot.class));
+
+            if (needsRoot) {
+                ProxyBuilder<Object> builder = new ProxyBuilder<>(type);
+                builder.put("designerRoot", owner);
+                return builder;
+            } else {
+                return null; //use default
+            }
+        });
+
         loader.setControllerFactory(type -> {
             if (type == MainDesignerController.class) {
                 return mainController;
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java
index 58a5a94741..66a88a7721 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/SourceEditorController.java
@@ -78,16 +78,11 @@ public class SourceEditorController extends AbstractController<MainDesignerContr
     public SourceEditorController(MainDesignerController mainController) {
         super(mainController);
         astManager = new ASTManager(mainController.getDesignerRoot());
-
     }
 
 
     @Override
     protected void beforeParentInit() {
-
-        astTreeView.setDesignerRoot(getDesignerRoot());
-        nodeEditionCodeArea.setDesignerRoot(getDesignerRoot());
-
         initializeLanguageSelector(); // languageVersionProperty() must be initialized
 
         languageVersionProperty().values()
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/AstTreeView.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/AstTreeView.java
index a0917276b2..8df59de606 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/AstTreeView.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/AstTreeView.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.ast.Node;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.app.DesignerRoot;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.app.NodeSelectionSource;
 
+import javafx.beans.NamedArg;
 import javafx.scene.control.SelectionModel;
 import javafx.scene.control.TreeItem;
 import javafx.scene.control.TreeView;
@@ -41,7 +42,9 @@ public class AstTreeView extends TreeView<Node> implements NodeSelectionSource {
     private DesignerRoot designerRoot;
 
 
-    public AstTreeView() {
+    public AstTreeView(@NamedArg("designerRoot") DesignerRoot root) {
+        designerRoot = root;
+
         EventSource<Node> eventSink = new EventSource<>();
         selectionEvents = eventSink.suppressible();
 
@@ -58,6 +61,8 @@ public class AstTreeView extends TreeView<Node> implements NodeSelectionSource {
                 eventSink.push(n);
             }
         }));
+
+        initNodeSelectionHandling();
     }
 
 
@@ -141,8 +146,4 @@ public class AstTreeView extends TreeView<Node> implements NodeSelectionSource {
     }
 
 
-    public void setDesignerRoot(DesignerRoot designerRoot) {
-        this.designerRoot = designerRoot;
-        initNodeSelectionHandling();
-    }
 }
diff --git a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/NodeEditionCodeArea.java b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/NodeEditionCodeArea.java
index 612952aaef..d39d5e4f66 100644
--- a/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/NodeEditionCodeArea.java
+++ b/pmd-ui/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/fxdesigner/util/controls/NodeEditionCodeArea.java
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.app.NodeSelectionSource;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.DesignerUtil;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.AvailableSyntaxHighlighters;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.HighlightLayerCodeArea;
-import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.codearea.HighlightLayerCodeArea.LayerId;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.util.fxdesigner.util.controls.NodeEditionCodeArea.StyleLayerIds;
 
 import javafx.application.Platform;
+import javafx.beans.NamedArg;
 import javafx.css.PseudoClass;
 
 
@@ -52,14 +52,18 @@ public class NodeEditionCodeArea extends HighlightLayerCodeArea<StyleLayerIds> i
     private DesignerRoot designerRoot;
 
 
-    public NodeEditionCodeArea() {
+    public NodeEditionCodeArea(@NamedArg("designerRoot") DesignerRoot root) {
         super(StyleLayerIds.class);
 
+        this.designerRoot = root;
+
         setParagraphGraphicFactory(lineNumberFactory());
 
         currentRuleResultsProperty().values().subscribe(this::highlightXPathResults);
         currentErrorNodesProperty().values().subscribe(this::highlightErrorNodes);
         currentNameOccurrences.values().subscribe(this::highlightNameOccurrences);
+
+        initNodeSelectionHandling();
     }
 
     /** Scroll the editor to a node and makes it visible. */
@@ -184,12 +188,6 @@ public class NodeEditionCodeArea extends HighlightLayerCodeArea<StyleLayerIds> i
     }
 
 
-    public void setDesignerRoot(DesignerRoot designerRoot) {
-        this.designerRoot = designerRoot;
-        initNodeSelectionHandling();
-    }
-
-
     public void updateSyntaxHighlighter(Language language) {
         setSyntaxHighlighter(AvailableSyntaxHighlighters.getHighlighterForLanguage(language).orElse(null));
     }