diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContextAnnotationUtils.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContextAnnotationUtils.java
index a92a7c29a9..ac6087c468 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContextAnnotationUtils.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/TestContextAnnotationUtils.java
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ public abstract class TestContextAnnotationUtils {
 	public static <T extends Annotation> AnnotationDescriptor<T> findAnnotationDescriptor(
 			Class<?> clazz, Class<T> annotationType) {
 
+		Assert.notNull(annotationType, "Annotation type must not be null");
 		return findAnnotationDescriptor(clazz, annotationType, TestContextAnnotationUtils::searchEnclosingClass,
 			new HashSet<>());
 	}
@@ -214,7 +215,6 @@ public abstract class TestContextAnnotationUtils {
 			@Nullable Class<?> clazz, Class<T> annotationType, Predicate<Class<?>> searchEnclosingClass,
 			Set<Annotation> visited) {
 
-		Assert.notNull(annotationType, "Annotation type must not be null");
 		if (clazz == null || Object.class == clazz) {
 			return null;
 		}
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ public abstract class TestContextAnnotationUtils {
 			return this.declaringClass;
 		}
 
-		public T getAnnotation() {
+		T getAnnotation() {
 			return this.annotation;
 		}
 
@@ -533,21 +533,21 @@ public abstract class TestContextAnnotationUtils {
 		}
 
 		@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-		public Class<T> getAnnotationType() {
+		Class<T> getAnnotationType() {
 			return (Class<T>) this.annotation.annotationType();
 		}
 
-		public AnnotationAttributes getAnnotationAttributes() {
+		AnnotationAttributes getAnnotationAttributes() {
 			return this.annotationAttributes;
 		}
 
 		@Nullable
-		public Annotation getComposedAnnotation() {
+		Annotation getComposedAnnotation() {
 			return this.composedAnnotation;
 		}
 
 		@Nullable
-		public Class<? extends Annotation> getComposedAnnotationType() {
+		Class<? extends Annotation> getComposedAnnotationType() {
 			return (this.composedAnnotation != null ? this.composedAnnotation.annotationType() : null);
 		}
 
@@ -633,16 +633,6 @@ public abstract class TestContextAnnotationUtils {
 			this.annotationTypes = annotationTypes;
 		}
 
-		/**
-		 * Throws an {@link UnsupportedOperationException} since the type of annotation
-		 * represented by an {@code UntypedAnnotationDescriptor} is unknown.
-		 */
-		@Override
-		public Annotation synthesizeAnnotation() {
-			throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
-					"synthesizeAnnotation() is unsupported in UntypedAnnotationDescriptor");
-		}
-
 		/**
 		 * Find the next {@link UntypedAnnotationDescriptor} for the specified
 		 * annotation types in the hierarchy above the
diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java
index db082c4720..d7bf5243dc 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import java.util.Set;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
-import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationUtils;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfigurationAttributes;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextHierarchy;
@@ -127,8 +126,7 @@ abstract class ContextLoaderUtils {
 			List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> configAttributesList = new ArrayList<>();
 
 			if (contextConfigDeclaredLocally) {
-				ContextConfiguration contextConfiguration = AnnotationUtils.synthesizeAnnotation(
-						desc.getAnnotationAttributes(), ContextConfiguration.class, desc.getRootDeclaringClass());
+				ContextConfiguration contextConfiguration = (ContextConfiguration) desc.synthesizeAnnotation();
 				convertContextConfigToConfigAttributesAndAddToList(
 						contextConfiguration, rootDeclaringClass, configAttributesList);
 			}