There is no way to replace/find in one go the 2 targets below: -------------------------- To reproduce: try and replace $ssn$ == null ? null : $ssn$.$nodeOrMore$ by $ssn$.$nodeOrMore$ with as sole constraint that $ssn$ inherits from Serializable Problem: only the 1st target is found. public final class Foo { public static void main (String[] args) { SuperSuperNode ssn = new SuperSuperNode (); Node node = ssn == null ? null : ssn.node; <<-- target 1: IS FOUND Node node2 = ssn == null ? null : ssn.supernode.node; <--- target 2: is NOT found } private static class Node { } public static class SuperNode { public Node node; } public static class SuperSuperNode implements Serializable{ public SuperNode supernode; public Node node; } }