diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApis.java b/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApis.java
index 5a79d0b4..84d19498 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApis.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApis.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 import static de.thetaphi.forbiddenapis.Checker.Option.FAIL_ON_UNRESOLVABLE_SIGNATURES;
 import static de.thetaphi.forbiddenapis.Checker.Option.FAIL_ON_VIOLATION;
 import static de.thetaphi.forbiddenapis.Checker.Option.INTERNAL_RUNTIME_FORBIDDEN;
-
 import groovy.lang.Closure;
 
 import java.io.Closeable;
@@ -67,9 +66,10 @@
 public class CheckForbiddenApis extends DefaultTask implements PatternFilterable,VerificationTask {
   
   private final CheckForbiddenApisExtension data = new CheckForbiddenApisExtension();
+  private final PatternSet patternSet = new PatternSet().include("**/*.class");
   private File classesDir;
   private FileCollection classpath;
-
+  
   /**
    * Directory with the class files to check.
    */
@@ -126,7 +126,8 @@ public List<String> getSignatures() {
 
   /** @see #getSignatures */
   public void setSignatures(List<String> signatures) {
-    data.signatures = signatures;
+    data.signatures.clear();
+    data.signatures.addAll(signatures);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -142,7 +143,8 @@ public List<String> getBundledSignatures() {
 
   /** @see #getBundledSignatures */
   public void setBundledSignatures(List<String> bundledSignatures) {
-    data.bundledSignatures = bundledSignatures;
+    data.bundledSignatures.clear();
+    data.bundledSignatures.addAll(bundledSignatures);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -240,7 +242,8 @@ public List<String> getSuppressAnnotations() {
 
   /** @see #getSuppressAnnotations */
   public void setSuppressAnnotations(List<String> suppressAnnotations) {
-    data.suppressAnnotations = suppressAnnotations;
+    data.suppressAnnotations.clear();
+    data.suppressAnnotations.addAll(suppressAnnotations);
   }
   
   // PatternFilterable implementation:
@@ -255,11 +258,11 @@ public void setSuppressAnnotations(List<String> suppressAnnotations) {
    */
   @Input
   public Set<String> getIncludes() {
-    return data.getIncludes();
+    return getPatternSet().getIncludes();
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis setIncludes(Iterable<String> includes) {
-    data.setIncludes(includes);
+    getPatternSet().setIncludes(includes);
     return this;
   }
 
@@ -271,60 +274,60 @@ public CheckForbiddenApis setIncludes(Iterable<String> includes) {
    */
   @Input
   public Set<String> getExcludes() {
-    return data.getExcludes();
+    return getPatternSet().getExcludes();
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis setExcludes(Iterable<String> excludes) {
-    data.setExcludes(excludes);
+    getPatternSet().setExcludes(excludes);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis exclude(String... arg0) {
-    data.exclude(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().exclude(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis exclude(Iterable<String> arg0) {
-    data.exclude(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().exclude(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis exclude(Spec<FileTreeElement> arg0) {
-    data.exclude(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().exclude(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis exclude(@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") Closure arg0) {
-    data.exclude(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().exclude(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis include(String... arg0) {
-    data.include(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().include(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis include(Iterable<String> arg0) {
-    data.include(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().include(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis include(Spec<FileTreeElement> arg0) {
-    data.include(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().include(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public CheckForbiddenApis include(@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") Closure arg0) {
-    data.include(arg0);
+    getPatternSet().include(arg0);
     return this;
   }
 
   public PatternSet getPatternSet() {
-    return data.patternSet;
+    return patternSet;
   }
   
   public void setPatternSet(PatternSet patternSet) {
-    data.patternSet = patternSet;
+    patternSet.copyFrom(patternSet);
   }
 
   /** Returns the classes to check. */
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApisExtension.java b/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApisExtension.java
index 3282659d..36b29244 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApisExtension.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/CheckForbiddenApisExtension.java
@@ -16,24 +16,18 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import groovy.lang.Closure;
-
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.gradle.api.file.FileCollection;
-import org.gradle.api.file.FileTreeElement;
-import org.gradle.api.specs.Spec;
-import org.gradle.api.tasks.util.PatternFilterable;
-import org.gradle.api.tasks.util.PatternSet;
 
 /**
  * Extension for the ForbiddenApis Gradle Task to store defaults.
  * For description of the properties refer to the {@link CheckForbiddenApis}
  * task documentation.
  */
-public class CheckForbiddenApisExtension implements PatternFilterable {
+public class CheckForbiddenApisExtension {
   
   /** Fields used for the convention mapping, keep up-to-date with class members! */
   static final List<String> PROPS = Arrays.asList(
@@ -45,80 +39,17 @@ public class CheckForbiddenApisExtension implements PatternFilterable {
     "failOnUnsupportedJava",
     "failOnMissingClasses",
     "failOnUnresolvableSignatures",
-    "ignoreFailures",
-    "patternSet"
+    "ignoreFailures"
   );
   
-  public PatternSet patternSet = new PatternSet().include("**/*.class");
-  
   public FileCollection signaturesFiles;
-  public List<String> signatures,
-    bundledSignatures,
-    suppressAnnotations;
+  public List<String> signatures = new ArrayList<String>(),
+    bundledSignatures = new ArrayList<String>(),
+    suppressAnnotations = new ArrayList<String>();
   public boolean internalRuntimeForbidden = false,
     failOnUnsupportedJava = false,
     failOnMissingClasses = true,
     failOnUnresolvableSignatures = true,
     ignoreFailures = false;
   
-  // PatternFilterable implementation:
-  
-  public Set<String> getIncludes() {
-    return patternSet.getIncludes();
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension setIncludes(Iterable<String> includes) {
-    patternSet.setIncludes(includes);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public Set<String> getExcludes() {
-    return patternSet.getExcludes();
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension setExcludes(Iterable<String> excludes) {
-    patternSet.setExcludes(excludes);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension exclude(String... arg0) {
-    patternSet.exclude(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension exclude(Iterable<String> arg0) {
-    patternSet.exclude(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension exclude(Spec<FileTreeElement> arg0) {
-    patternSet.exclude(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension exclude(@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") Closure arg0) {
-    patternSet.exclude(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension include(String... arg0) {
-    patternSet.include(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension include(Iterable<String> arg0) {
-    patternSet.include(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension include(Spec<FileTreeElement> arg0) {
-    patternSet.include(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
-  public CheckForbiddenApisExtension include(@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") Closure arg0) {
-    patternSet.include(arg0);
-    return this;
-  }
-
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/ForbiddenApisPlugin.java b/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/ForbiddenApisPlugin.java
index 73da8168..b5dc856c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/ForbiddenApisPlugin.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/thetaphi/forbiddenapis/gradle/ForbiddenApisPlugin.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public void apply(final Project project) {
       }
       scriptText = ResourceGroovyMethods.getText(scriptUrl, "UTF-8");
     } catch (IOException ioe) {
-      throw new PluginInstantiationException("Cannot execute " + PLUGIN_INIT_SCRIPT + " script.", ioe);
+      throw new PluginInstantiationException("Cannot load " + PLUGIN_INIT_SCRIPT + " script.", ioe);
     }    
     final ImportCustomizer importCustomizer = new ImportCustomizer().addStarImports(ForbiddenApisPlugin.class.getPackage().getName());
     final CompilerConfiguration configuration = new CompilerConfiguration().addCompilationCustomizers(importCustomizer);