diff --git a/maven/core-unittests/pmd.xml b/maven/core-unittests/pmd.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b261165849
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven/core-unittests/pmd.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<ruleset name="core-unittests"
+         xmlns="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset/2.0.0"
+         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset/2.0.0 http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset_2_0_0.xsd">
+    <description>PMD rules for core unit tests.</description>
+    <rule ref="rulesets/java/quickstart.xml">
+        <exclude name="UselessParentheses"/>
+    </rule>
+</ruleset>
diff --git a/maven/core-unittests/pom.xml b/maven/core-unittests/pom.xml
index d176fdf7eb..1096be32c0 100644
--- a/maven/core-unittests/pom.xml
+++ b/maven/core-unittests/pom.xml
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@
                     <failOnViolation>false</failOnViolation>
                     <printFailingErrors>false</printFailingErrors>
                     <targetJdk>1.8</targetJdk>
+                    <rulesets>
+                        <ruleset>${project.basedir}/pmd.xml</ruleset>
+                    </rulesets>
                 </configuration>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>