The following example involves an annotation processor that uses Elements#getTypeElement to try to load com.sun.tools.javac.util.Context (which is defined in jdk.compiler). A definition of the class is also on the -classpath, from a JDK 8 tools.jar.

=== P.java ===
import java.util.Set;
import javax.annotation.processing.AbstractProcessor;
import javax.annotation.processing.RoundEnvironment;
import javax.annotation.processing.SupportedAnnotationTypes;
import javax.lang.model.SourceVersion;
import javax.lang.model.element.TypeElement;
import javax.tools.Diagnostic;

@SupportedAnnotationTypes("*")
public class P extends AbstractProcessor {
  @Override
  public SourceVersion getSupportedSourceVersion() {
    return SourceVersion.latestSupported();
  }

  @Override
  public boolean process(Set<? extends TypeElement> annotations, RoundEnvironment roundEnv) {
    TypeElement typeElement =
        processingEnv.getElementUtils().getTypeElement("com.sun.tools.javac.util.Context");
    processingEnv.getMessager().printMessage(Diagnostic.Kind.NOTE, String.valueOf(typeElement));
    return false;
  }
}
=== T.java ===
@Deprecated class T {}
===

With the default target language level, a 'Multiple elements' note gets logged, and the element cannot be loaded:

```
$JAVA14_HOME/bin/javac P.java
$JAVA14_HOME/bin/javac -fullversion -processor P -cp $JAVA8_HOME/lib/tools.jar:. T.java
javac full version "14-ea+30-1385"
Note: Multiple elements named 'com.sun.tools.javac.util.Context' in modules 'unnamed module, jdk.compiler' were found by javax.lang.model.util.Elements.getTypeElement.
Note: null
Note: null
```

When cross-compiling (with --release 13) no note is logged, and the element is loaded.

```
$JAVA14_HOME/bin/javac -processor P -cp $JAVA8_HOME/lib/tools.jar:. --release 13 T.java
Note: com.sun.tools.javac.util.Context
Note: com.sun.tools.javac.util.Context
```

Is this inconsistency deliberate? If not, which of the two examples is correct?

Is the issue with `--release 13` that the ct.sym data for previous releases only includes modules that are supposed to be visible, so it doesn't have enough information to detect the clash?