diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PathPatternsRequestConditionTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PathPatternsRequestConditionTests.java
index d36dd92c23e..0e8cf6db52f 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PathPatternsRequestConditionTests.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PathPatternsRequestConditionTests.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.condition;
 
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
-import org.assertj.core.api.StringAssert;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import org.springframework.web.testfixture.servlet.MockHttpServletRequest;
@@ -25,6 +24,7 @@ import org.springframework.web.util.ServletRequestPathUtils;
 import org.springframework.web.util.pattern.PathPatternParser;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.InstanceOfAssertFactories.STRING;
 
 /**
  * Tests for {@link PathPatternsRequestCondition}.
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class PathPatternsRequestConditionTests {
 
 	@Test
 	void prependNonEmptyPatternsOnly() {
-		assertThat(createCondition("").getPatternValues(), StringAssert.class).element(0)
+		assertThat(createCondition("").getPatternValues()).first(STRING)
 				.as("Do not prepend empty patterns (SPR-8255)").isEmpty();
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PatternsRequestConditionTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PatternsRequestConditionTests.java
index 0ff29a96051..1b305d696e6 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PatternsRequestConditionTests.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/condition/PatternsRequestConditionTests.java
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ package org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.condition;
 import java.util.Collections;
 
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
-import org.assertj.core.api.StringAssert;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import org.springframework.web.testfixture.servlet.MockHttpServletRequest;
 import org.springframework.web.util.UrlPathHelper;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.InstanceOfAssertFactories.STRING;
 
 /**
  * Tests for {@link PatternsRequestCondition}.
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class PatternsRequestConditionTests {
 
 	@Test
 	void prependNonEmptyPatternsOnly() {
-		assertThat(new PatternsRequestCondition("").getPatterns(), StringAssert.class).element(0)
+		assertThat(new PatternsRequestCondition("").getPatterns()).first(STRING)
 				.as("Do not prepend empty patterns (SPR-8255)").isEmpty();
 	}
 
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ class PatternsRequestConditionTests {
 		match = condition.getMatchingCondition(request);
 
 		assertThat(match).isNotNull();
-		assertThat(match.getPatterns(), StringAssert.class).element(0)
+		assertThat(match.getPatterns()).first(STRING)
 				.as("Trailing slash should be insensitive to useSuffixPatternMatch settings (SPR-6164, SPR-5636)")
 				.isEqualTo("/foo/");
 
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/MethodValidationTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/MethodValidationTests.java
index 3e561276baf..8a2d35a954e 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/MethodValidationTests.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/MethodValidationTests.java
@@ -126,9 +126,8 @@ class MethodValidationTests {
 		HandlerMethod hm = handlerMethod(new ValidController(), c -> c.handle(mockPerson));
 		this.request.addParameter("name", "name=Faustino1234");
 
-		MethodArgumentNotValidException ex = catchThrowableOfType(
-				() -> this.handlerAdapter.handle(this.request, this.response, hm),
-				MethodArgumentNotValidException.class);
+		MethodArgumentNotValidException ex = catchThrowableOfType(MethodArgumentNotValidException.class,
+				() -> this.handlerAdapter.handle(this.request, this.response, hm));
 
 		assertThat(this.jakartaValidator.getValidationCount()).isEqualTo(1);
 		assertThat(this.jakartaValidator.getMethodValidationCount()).as("Method validation unexpected").isEqualTo(0);
@@ -167,9 +166,8 @@ class MethodValidationTests {
 		this.request.addParameter("name", "name=Faustino1234");
 		this.request.addHeader("myHeader", "123");
 
-		HandlerMethodValidationException ex = catchThrowableOfType(
-				() -> this.handlerAdapter.handle(this.request, this.response, hm),
-				HandlerMethodValidationException.class);
+		HandlerMethodValidationException ex = catchThrowableOfType(HandlerMethodValidationException.class,
+				() -> this.handlerAdapter.handle(this.request, this.response, hm));
 
 		assertThat(this.jakartaValidator.getValidationCount()).isEqualTo(1);
 		assertThat(this.jakartaValidator.getMethodValidationCount()).isEqualTo(1);
@@ -223,9 +221,8 @@ class MethodValidationTests {
 		this.request.setContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE);
 		this.request.setContent("[{\"name\":\"Faustino1234\"},{\"name\":\"Cayetana6789\"}]".getBytes(UTF_8));
 
-		HandlerMethodValidationException ex = catchThrowableOfType(
-				() -> this.handlerAdapter.handle(this.request, this.response, hm),
-				HandlerMethodValidationException.class);
+		HandlerMethodValidationException ex = catchThrowableOfType(HandlerMethodValidationException.class,
+				() -> this.handlerAdapter.handle(this.request, this.response, hm));
 
 		assertThat(this.jakartaValidator.getValidationCount()).isEqualTo(1);
 		assertThat(this.jakartaValidator.getMethodValidationCount()).isEqualTo(1);