diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonArray.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonArray.java
index fe8b686d..d332ed72 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonArray.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonArray.java
@@ -36,10 +36,19 @@ public final class JsonArray extends JsonElement implements Iterable<JsonElement
   /**
    * Creates an empty JsonArray.
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
   public JsonArray() {
     elements = new ArrayList<>();
   }
-  
+
+  /**
+   * Creates an empty JsonArray with the desired initial capacity.
+   *
+   * @param capacity initial capacity.
+   * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the {@code capacity} is
+   *   negative
+   */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
   public JsonArray(int capacity) {
     elements = new ArrayList<>(capacity);
   }
@@ -171,7 +180,7 @@ public final class JsonArray extends JsonElement implements Iterable<JsonElement
   public int size() {
     return elements.size();
   }
-  
+
   /**
    * Returns true if the array is empty
    *
diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java
index fb6a5f1a..56a89894 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java
@@ -31,6 +31,15 @@ import java.math.BigInteger;
  * @author Joel Leitch
  */
 public abstract class JsonElement {
+  /**
+   * @deprecated Creating custom {@code JsonElement} subclasses is highly discouraged
+   *   and can lead to undefined behavior.<br>
+   *   This constructor is only kept for backward compatibility.
+   */
+  @Deprecated
+  public JsonElement() {
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns a deep copy of this element. Immutable elements like primitives
    * and nulls are not copied.
diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonNull.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonNull.java
index 67cb9325..934dfc7d 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonNull.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonNull.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ package com.google.gson;
  */
 public final class JsonNull extends JsonElement {
   /**
-   * singleton for JsonNull
+   * Singleton for JsonNull
    *
    * @since 1.8
    */
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ public final class JsonNull extends JsonElement {
 
   /**
    * Creates a new JsonNull object.
-   * Deprecated since Gson version 1.8. Use {@link #INSTANCE} instead
+   *
+   * @deprecated Deprecated since Gson version 1.8. Use {@link #INSTANCE} instead
    */
   @Deprecated
   public JsonNull() {
diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonObject.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonObject.java
index 285a8429..80ee19d3 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonObject.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonObject.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 package com.google.gson;
 
 import com.google.gson.internal.LinkedTreeMap;
-
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 
@@ -32,6 +31,13 @@ import java.util.Set;
 public final class JsonObject extends JsonElement {
   private final LinkedTreeMap<String, JsonElement> members = new LinkedTreeMap<>();
 
+  /**
+   * Creates an empty JsonObject.
+   */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
+  public JsonObject() {
+  }
+
   /**
    * Creates a deep copy of this element and all its children
    * @since 2.8.2
diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonPrimitive.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonPrimitive.java
index 5e95d5a8..c994420c 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonPrimitive.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonPrimitive.java
@@ -17,11 +17,10 @@
 package com.google.gson;
 
 import com.google.gson.internal.$Gson$Preconditions;
+import com.google.gson.internal.LazilyParsedNumber;
 import java.math.BigDecimal;
 import java.math.BigInteger;
 
-import com.google.gson.internal.LazilyParsedNumber;
-
 /**
  * A class representing a Json primitive value. A primitive value
  * is either a String, a Java primitive, or a Java primitive
@@ -39,6 +38,7 @@ public final class JsonPrimitive extends JsonElement {
    *
    * @param bool the value to create the primitive with.
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
   public JsonPrimitive(Boolean bool) {
     value = $Gson$Preconditions.checkNotNull(bool);
   }
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public final class JsonPrimitive extends JsonElement {
    *
    * @param number the value to create the primitive with.
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
   public JsonPrimitive(Number number) {
     value = $Gson$Preconditions.checkNotNull(number);
   }
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ public final class JsonPrimitive extends JsonElement {
    *
    * @param string the value to create the primitive with.
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
   public JsonPrimitive(String string) {
     value = $Gson$Preconditions.checkNotNull(string);
   }
@@ -67,6 +69,7 @@ public final class JsonPrimitive extends JsonElement {
    *
    * @param c the value to create the primitive with.
    */
+  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
   public JsonPrimitive(Character c) {
     // convert characters to strings since in JSON, characters are represented as a single
     // character string
diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReader.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReader.java
index a753402e..dfa42c48 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReader.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReader.java
@@ -23,11 +23,12 @@ import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
 import com.google.gson.JsonPrimitive;
 import com.google.gson.stream.JsonReader;
 import com.google.gson.stream.JsonToken;
+import com.google.gson.stream.MalformedJsonException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Reader;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 
 /**
  * This reader walks the elements of a JsonElement as if it was coming from a
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ public final class JsonTreeReader extends JsonReader {
     } else if (o == SENTINEL_CLOSED) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("JsonReader is closed");
     } else {
-      throw new AssertionError();
+      throw new MalformedJsonException("Custom JsonElement subclass " + o.getClass().getName() + " is not supported");
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReaderTest.java b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReaderTest.java
index 1166381b..dd4daf05 100644
--- a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReaderTest.java
+++ b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/internal/bind/JsonTreeReaderTest.java
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@
 package com.google.gson.internal.bind;
 
 import com.google.gson.JsonArray;
+import com.google.gson.JsonElement;
 import com.google.gson.JsonNull;
 import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
 import com.google.gson.stream.JsonToken;
+import com.google.gson.stream.MalformedJsonException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
@@ -54,4 +56,28 @@ public class JsonTreeReaderTest extends TestCase {
     reader.endObject();
     assertFalse(reader.hasNext());
   }
+
+  public void testCustomJsonElementSubclass() throws IOException {
+    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation") // superclass constructor
+    class CustomSubclass extends JsonElement {
+      @Override
+      public JsonElement deepCopy() {
+        return this;
+      }
+    }
+
+    JsonArray array = new JsonArray();
+    array.add(new CustomSubclass());
+
+    JsonTreeReader reader = new JsonTreeReader(array);
+    reader.beginArray();
+    try {
+      // Should fail due to custom JsonElement subclass
+      reader.peek();
+      fail();
+    } catch (MalformedJsonException expected) {
+      assertEquals("Custom JsonElement subclass " + CustomSubclass.class.getName() + " is not supported",
+          expected.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
 }