diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 05a49db6..b3b639dd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -176,12 +176,12 @@ the parameter.
 - increase unit test coverage
 - add javadoc
 - fix RichText.split() with non-trivial regex and limit 0 not skipping trailing empty segments in result
-- fix build issues on windows‚
-- fix smaller issues
+- fix build issues on windows
 - fix issues in FontDef CSS conversion
 - fix font size not extracted when getting FontDef directly from TextAttributes
 - fix Vector2f returning NaN for zero denominator
 - fix IoUtil.glob() and IoUtil.findFiles() returning paths with inconsistent root under certain circumstances
+- fix smaller issues
 
 ### 11.1.3
 
diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index fc94fa9e..929801bc 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ subprojects {
     dependencies {
         // source annotations
         compileOnly(rootProject.libs.cabe.annotations)
-        compileOnly(rootProject.libs.spotbugs.annotations)
 
         // LOG4J
         implementation(rootProject.libs.log4j.api)
diff --git a/settings.gradle.kts b/settings.gradle.kts
index e1f93899..0d2f6941 100644
--- a/settings.gradle.kts
+++ b/settings.gradle.kts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // define project name and version
 rootProject.name = "dua3-utility"
-val projectVersion = "12.0.0-beta6-SNAPSHOT"
+val projectVersion = "12.0.0-beta6"
 
 // define subprojects
 include("utility")
@@ -37,10 +37,9 @@ dependencyResolutionManagement {
             version("slf4j", "2.0.9")
             version("jimfs", "1.2")
             version("miglayout", "11.2")
-            version("spotbugs", "4.8.1")
+            version("spotbugs", "4.8.2")
 
             library("cabe-annotations", "com.dua3.cabe", "cabe-annotations").versionRef("cabe")
-            library("spotbugs-annotations", "com.github.spotbugs", "spotbugs-annotations").versionRef("spotbugs")
 
             library("slf4j-api", "org.slf4j", "slf4j-api").versionRef("slf4j")
             library("slf4j-simple", "org.slf4j", "slf4j-simple").versionRef("slf4j")
diff --git a/spotbugs-exclude.xml b/spotbugs-exclude.xml
index fed2a08e..78286440 100644
--- a/spotbugs-exclude.xml
+++ b/spotbugs-exclude.xml
@@ -8,15 +8,20 @@
         </Or>
     </Match>
 
-    <!-- this bug pattern is currently completely broken / https://github.com/spotbugs/spotbugs/issues/1601 -->
     <Match>
-        <Bug pattern="EI_EXPOSE_REP"/>
-    </Match>
-    <Match>
-        <Bug pattern="EI_EXPOSE_REP2"/>
+        <Or>
+            <!-- this inspection is triggered when using AssertThrows in JUnit tests -->
+            <Bug pattern="EI_EXPOSE_REP"/>
+            <Bug pattern="EI_EXPOSE_REP2"/>
+            <Bug pattern="VA_FORMAT_STRING_USES_NEWLINE"/>
+            <Bug pattern="CT_CONSTRUCTOR_THROW"/>
+            <Bug pattern="PI_DO_NOT_REUSE_PUBLIC_IDENTIFIERS_CLASS_NAMES"/>
+        </Or>
     </Match>
+
     <Match>
-        <Bug pattern="VA_FORMAT_STRING_USES_NEWLINE"/>
+        <Class name="com.dua3.utility.logging.slf4j.LoggerSlf4j"/>
+        <Bug pattern="SE_BAD_FIELD"/>
     </Match>
 
     <!-- SecurityManager will soon be gone, so will be doPrivileged() -->
@@ -24,14 +29,6 @@
         <Bug pattern="DP_CREATE_CLASSLOADER_INSIDE_DO_PRIVILEGED"/>
     </Match>
 
-    <!-- Do not run these inspections -->
-    <Match>
-        <Bug pattern="CT_CONSTRUCTOR_THROW"/>
-    </Match>
-    <Match>
-        <Bug pattern="PI_DO_NOT_REUSE_PUBLIC_IDENTIFIERS_CLASS_NAMES"/>
-    </Match>
-
     <!-- by design -->
     <Match>
         <Class name="com.dua3.utility.db.NamedParameterStatement"/>
diff --git a/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/com/dua3/utility/logging/slf4j/LoggerSlf4j.java b/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/com/dua3/utility/logging/slf4j/LoggerSlf4j.java
index 34fd9afa..05b0f259 100644
--- a/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/com/dua3/utility/logging/slf4j/LoggerSlf4j.java
+++ b/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/com/dua3/utility/logging/slf4j/LoggerSlf4j.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 public class LoggerSlf4j extends AbstractLogger {
     private static Level defaultLevel = Level.INFO;
 
-    @edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.SuppressFBWarnings("SE_BAD_FIELD")
     private final List<WeakReference<LogEntryHandler>> handlers;
     private final Map<Marker, Level> markerLevelMap = new HashMap<>();
     private Level level;
diff --git a/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/module-info.java b/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/module-info.java
index 861cf831..897a9d8b 100644
--- a/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/module-info.java
+++ b/utility-logging/utility-logging-slf4j/src/main/java/module-info.java
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
     provides ILogEntryDispatcherFactory with LogEntryDispatcherFactorySlf4j;
 
     requires static com.dua3.cabe.annotations;
-    requires static com.github.spotbugs.annotations;
 
     requires com.dua3.utility.logging;
     requires org.apache.logging.log4j;
diff --git a/utility/src/main/java/module-info.java b/utility/src/main/java/module-info.java
index 3563cf30..884640b8 100644
--- a/utility/src/main/java/module-info.java
+++ b/utility/src/main/java/module-info.java
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
     exports com.dua3.utility.xml;
 
     requires static com.dua3.cabe.annotations;
-    requires static com.github.spotbugs.annotations;
 
     requires java.xml;
     requires org.apache.logging.log4j;