diff --git a/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/CacheabilityFunctionalTest.groovy b/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/CacheabilityFunctionalTest.groovy
index 8002e11a..c7fbb205 100644
--- a/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/CacheabilityFunctionalTest.groovy
+++ b/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/CacheabilityFunctionalTest.groovy
@@ -95,6 +95,11 @@ class CacheabilityFunctionalTest extends Specification {
             |repositories {
             |    mavenCentral()
             |}
+            |spotbugsMain {
+            |    reports {
+            |        text.enabled = true
+            |    }
+            |}
             |'''.stripMargin()
 
         if (runScan) {
diff --git a/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/ReportFunctionalTest.groovy b/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/ReportFunctionalTest.groovy
index c281f462..7d1fd46b 100644
--- a/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/ReportFunctionalTest.groovy
+++ b/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/ReportFunctionalTest.groovy
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import spock.lang.Specification
 
 import org.gradle.testkit.runner.GradleRunner
 
+import static org.gradle.testkit.runner.TaskOutcome.FAILED
 import static org.gradle.testkit.runner.TaskOutcome.SUCCESS
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse
@@ -58,19 +59,26 @@ public class Foo {
 """
     }
 
-    def "generate XML report by default"() {
+    def "generate console report by default"() {
+        given:
+        def badCode = new File(rootDir, 'src/main/java/Bar.java')
+        badCode << '''
+        |public class Bar {
+        |  public int unreadField = 42; // warning: URF_UNREAD_FIELD
+        |}
+        |'''.stripMargin()
         when:
         def result = GradleRunner.create()
                 .withProjectDir(rootDir)
                 .withArguments('spotbugsMain')
                 .withPluginClasspath()
                 .withGradleVersion(version)
-                .build()
+                .buildAndFail()
 
         then:
-        assertEquals(SUCCESS, result.task(":spotbugsMain").outcome)
-        File report = rootDir.toPath().resolve("build").resolve("reports").resolve("spotbugs").resolve("main.xml").toFile()
-        report.isFile()
+        assertEquals(FAILED, result.task(":spotbugsMain").outcome)
+        assertTrue(result.output.contains("M D UrF: Unread public/protected field: Bar.unreadField  At Bar.java:[line 3]"))
+        assertFalse(rootDir.toPath().resolve("build").toFile().list().contains("reports"))
     }
 
     def "can generate spotbugs.txt"() {
@@ -468,4 +476,4 @@ spotbugsMain {
         File report = rootDir.toPath().resolve("build").resolve("reports").resolve("spotbugs").resolve("main.sarif").toFile()
         assertTrue(report.isFile())
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/StandardFunctionalTest.groovy b/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/StandardFunctionalTest.groovy
index 45404583..6b1c6525 100644
--- a/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/StandardFunctionalTest.groovy
+++ b/src/functionalTest/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/StandardFunctionalTest.groovy
@@ -632,6 +632,13 @@ public class SimpleTest {
     @Unroll
     def 'shows report path when failures are found (Worker API? #isWorkerApi)'() {
         given:
+        buildFile << """
+spotbugsMain {
+    reports {
+        xml.enabled = true
+    }
+}"""
+
         def badCode = new File(rootDir, 'src/main/java/Bar.java')
         badCode << '''
         |public class Bar {
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/SpotBugsTask.groovy b/src/main/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/SpotBugsTask.groovy
index 1a69e119..b38aac16 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/SpotBugsTask.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/com/github/spotbugs/snom/SpotBugsTask.groovy
@@ -412,11 +412,7 @@ class SpotBugsTask extends DefaultTask implements VerificationTask {
     @Nested
     SpotBugsReport getFirstEnabledReport() {
         java.util.Optional<SpotBugsReport> report = reports.stream().filter({ report -> report.enabled}).findFirst()
-        if (isSpotBugsPluginApplied) {
-            return report.orElse(reports.create("xml"))
-        } else {
-            return report.orElse(null)
-        }
+        return report.orElse(null)
     }
 
     void setReportLevel(@Nullable String name) {