diff --git a/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/Properties.java b/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/Properties.java
index 75e7600d..305089da 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/Properties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/Properties.java
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@
 import org.apache.commons.text.translate.UnicodeEscaper;
 import org.json.JSONObject;
 import org.json.JSONTokener;
-import org.slf4j.Logger;
-import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import com.norconex.commons.lang.EqualsUtil;
 import com.norconex.commons.lang.bean.BeanException;
@@ -69,6 +67,8 @@
 import com.norconex.commons.lang.convert.GenericConverter;
 import com.norconex.commons.lang.text.TextMatcher;
 
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+
 /**
  * <p>This class is a enhanced version of {@link java.util.Properties}
  * that enforces the use of String keys and values internally, but offers many
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@
  * <p>Upon encountering a problem in parsing a value to
  * its desired type, a {@link PropertiesException} is thrown.</p>
  */
+@Slf4j
 public class Properties extends ObservableMap<String, List<String>>
         implements Serializable {
 
@@ -114,7 +115,6 @@ public class Properties extends ObservableMap<String, List<String>>
     // entered (to know which case-version to use).
 
     private static final long serialVersionUID = -7215126924574341L;
-    private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Properties.class);
 
     //MAYBE still support this?
     private final boolean caseInsensitiveKeys;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/PropertyMatchers.java b/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/PropertyMatchers.java
index e7c2a0a4..caa1691e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/PropertyMatchers.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/map/PropertyMatchers.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 
@@ -62,10 +61,10 @@ public boolean addAll(Collection<? extends PropertyMatcher> matchers) {
      * @return how many matchers were removed
      */
     public synchronized int remove(String field) {
-        Iterator<PropertyMatcher> it = iterator();
-        int count = 0;
+        var it = iterator();
+        var count = 0;
         while (it.hasNext()) {
-            PropertyMatcher m = it.next();
+            var m = it.next();
             if (m.getFieldMatcher().matches(field)) {
                 it.remove();
                 count++;
@@ -116,12 +115,12 @@ public boolean test(Properties properties) {
      * @see #test(Properties)
      */
     public Properties match(Properties properties) {
-        Properties props = new Properties();
+        var props = new Properties();
         if (properties == null) {
             return props;
         }
         for (PropertyMatcher matcher : this) {
-            Properties matches = matcher.match(properties);
+            var matches = matcher.match(properties);
             if (!matches.isEmpty()) {
                 props.putAll(matches);
             }
@@ -139,12 +138,12 @@ public Properties match(Properties properties) {
      * @return properties that were replaced with their original values
      */
     public Properties replace(Properties properties, String replacement) {
-        Properties props = new Properties();
+        var props = new Properties();
         if (properties == null) {
             return props;
         }
         for (PropertyMatcher matcher : this) {
-            Properties replaced = matcher.replace(properties, replacement);
+            var replaced = matcher.replace(properties, replacement);
             if (!replaced.isEmpty()) {
                 props.putAll(replaced);
             }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/xml/XML.java b/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/xml/XML.java
index ef088ded..4f5128e5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/xml/XML.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/norconex/commons/lang/xml/XML.java
@@ -342,7 +342,6 @@ public XML create() {
                     "$1$2 xml:space=\"empty\" $3$4");
             Element node = null;
             try {
-                documentBuilderFactory.setNamespaceAware(false);
                 node = documentBuilderFactory.newDocumentBuilder()
                         .parse(new InputSource(new StringReader(xmlStr)))
                             .getDocumentElement();