diff --git a/java-squid/src/main/java/org/sonar/java/se/symbolicvalues/BinaryRelation.java b/java-squid/src/main/java/org/sonar/java/se/symbolicvalues/BinaryRelation.java
index 46b84713d2c..654a81b6422 100644
--- a/java-squid/src/main/java/org/sonar/java/se/symbolicvalues/BinaryRelation.java
+++ b/java-squid/src/main/java/org/sonar/java/se/symbolicvalues/BinaryRelation.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 
 public abstract class BinaryRelation {
 
-  public class TransitiveRelationExceededException extends RuntimeException {
+  public static class TransitiveRelationExceededException extends RuntimeException {
     public TransitiveRelationExceededException() {
       super("Number of transitive relations exceeded!");
     }