diff --git a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/IdeaPluginDescriptorImpl.kt b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/IdeaPluginDescriptorImpl.kt
index 043c96313dba..2436663be77d 100644
--- a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/IdeaPluginDescriptorImpl.kt
+++ b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/IdeaPluginDescriptorImpl.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright 2000-2021 JetBrains s.r.o. and contributors. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-@file:Suppress("ReplaceGetOrSet")
+@file:Suppress("ReplaceGetOrSet", "ReplaceNegatedIsEmptyWithIsNotEmpty")
 package com.intellij.ide.plugins
 
 import com.intellij.AbstractBundle
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class IdeaPluginDescriptorImpl(raw: RawPluginDescriptor,
   @JvmField val projectContainerDescriptor = raw.projectContainerDescriptor
   @JvmField val moduleContainerDescriptor = raw.moduleContainerDescriptor
 
-  @JvmField val content = raw.content
+  @JvmField val content: PluginContentDescriptor = raw.contentModules?.let { PluginContentDescriptor(it) } ?: PluginContentDescriptor.EMPTY
   @JvmField val dependencies = raw.dependencies
   @JvmField val modules: List<PluginId> = raw.modules ?: Collections.emptyList()
 
diff --git a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/RawPluginDescriptor.kt b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/RawPluginDescriptor.kt
index e98d72c1a16b..0685c77c412d 100644
--- a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/RawPluginDescriptor.kt
+++ b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/RawPluginDescriptor.kt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright 2000-2021 JetBrains s.r.o. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+// Copyright 2000-2021 JetBrains s.r.o. and contributors. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 package com.intellij.ide.plugins
 
 import com.intellij.openapi.extensions.ExtensionDescriptor
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class RawPluginDescriptor {
 
   @JvmField var epNameToExtensions: MutableMap<String, MutableList<ExtensionDescriptor>>? = null
 
-  @JvmField internal var content = PluginContentDescriptor.EMPTY
+  @JvmField internal var contentModules: MutableList<PluginContentDescriptor.ModuleItem>? = null
   @JvmField internal var dependencies = ModuleDependenciesDescriptor.EMPTY
 
   class ActionDescriptor(
diff --git a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/XmlReader.kt b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/XmlReader.kt
index db45489c2b41..2ad3904ee97f 100644
--- a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/XmlReader.kt
+++ b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/ide/plugins/XmlReader.kt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright 2000-2021 JetBrains s.r.o. and contributors. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 @file:JvmName("XmlReader")
-@file:Suppress("ReplaceNegatedIsEmptyWithIsNotEmpty")
+@file:Suppress("ReplaceNegatedIsEmptyWithIsNotEmpty", "ReplacePutWithAssignment", "ReplaceGetOrSet")
 package com.intellij.ide.plugins
 
 import com.intellij.openapi.components.ComponentConfig
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import com.intellij.openapi.util.createNonCoalescingXmlStreamReader
 import com.intellij.platform.util.plugins.DataLoader
 import com.intellij.util.NoOpXmlInterner
 import com.intellij.util.XmlInterner
-import com.intellij.util.lang.Java11Shim
 import com.intellij.util.lang.ZipFilePool
 import com.intellij.util.messages.ListenerDescriptor
 import com.intellij.util.readXmlAsModel
@@ -667,7 +666,12 @@ private fun readComponents(reader: XMLStreamReader2, containerDescriptor: Contai
 private fun readContent(reader: XMLStreamReader2,
                         descriptor: RawPluginDescriptor,
                         readContext: ReadModuleContext) {
-  val items = ArrayList<PluginContentDescriptor.ModuleItem>()
+  var items = descriptor.contentModules
+  if (items == null) {
+    items = ArrayList()
+    descriptor.contentModules = items
+  }
+
   reader.consumeChildElements { elementName ->
     when (elementName) {
       "module" -> {
@@ -694,7 +698,6 @@ private fun readContent(reader: XMLStreamReader2,
     }
     reader.skipElement()
   }
-  descriptor.content = PluginContentDescriptor(Java11Shim.INSTANCE.copyOfCollection(items))
   assert(reader.isEndElement)
 }