diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/MockRestResponseCreators.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/MockRestResponseCreators.java
index 497f6b8276..cb9c9d84a6 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/MockRestResponseCreators.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/MockRestResponseCreators.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2017 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -118,13 +118,14 @@ public abstract class MockRestResponseCreators {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * {@code ResponseCreator} with an internal application {@code IOException}. For example,
-	 * one could use this to simulate a {@code SocketTimeoutException}.
-	 * @param e the {@code Exception} to be thrown at HTTP call time.
+	 * {@code ResponseCreator} with an internal application {@code IOException}.
+	 * <p>For example, one could use this to simulate a {@code SocketTimeoutException}.
+	 * @param ex the {@code Exception} to be thrown at HTTP call time
+	 * @since 5.2.2
 	 */
-	public static ResponseCreator withException(IOException e) {
+	public static ResponseCreator withException(IOException ex) {
 		return request -> {
-			throw e;
+			throw ex;
 		};
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/ResponseCreatorsTests.java b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/ResponseCreatorsTests.java
index 00dcb1aa04..b9e044824c 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/ResponseCreatorsTests.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/web/client/response/ResponseCreatorsTests.java
@@ -28,16 +28,17 @@ import org.springframework.test.web.client.ResponseCreator;
 import org.springframework.util.StreamUtils;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
 
 /**
  * Tests for the {@link MockRestResponseCreators} static factory methods.
  *
  * @author Rossen Stoyanchev
  */
-public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
+class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 
 	@Test
-	public void success() throws Exception {
+	void success() throws Exception {
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) MockRestResponseCreators.withSuccess().createResponse(null);
 
 		assertThat(response.getStatusCode()).isEqualTo(HttpStatus.OK);
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void successWithContent() throws Exception {
+	void successWithContent() throws Exception {
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withSuccess("foo", MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN);
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
 
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void successWithContentWithoutContentType() throws Exception {
+	void successWithContentWithoutContentType() throws Exception {
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withSuccess("foo", null);
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
 
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void created() throws Exception {
+	void created() throws Exception {
 		URI location = new URI("/foo");
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withCreatedEntity(location);
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void noContent() throws Exception {
+	void noContent() throws Exception {
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withNoContent();
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
 
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void badRequest() throws Exception {
+	void badRequest() throws Exception {
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withBadRequest();
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
 
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void unauthorized() throws Exception {
+	void unauthorized() throws Exception {
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withUnauthorizedRequest();
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
 
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void serverError() throws Exception {
+	void serverError() throws Exception {
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withServerError();
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
 
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	public void withStatus() throws Exception {
+	void withStatus() throws Exception {
 		DefaultResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withStatus(HttpStatus.FORBIDDEN);
 		MockClientHttpResponse response = (MockClientHttpResponse) responseCreator.createResponse(null);
 
@@ -126,10 +127,11 @@ public class ResponseCreatorsTests {
 		assertThat(StreamUtils.copyToByteArray(response.getBody()).length).isEqualTo(0);
 	}
 
-	@Test(expected = SocketTimeoutException.class)
-	public void withException() throws Exception {
+	@Test
+	void withException() {
 		ResponseCreator responseCreator = MockRestResponseCreators.withException(new SocketTimeoutException());
-		responseCreator.createResponse(null);
+		assertThatExceptionOfType(SocketTimeoutException.class)
+				.isThrownBy(() -> responseCreator.createResponse(null));
 	}
 
 }