FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.8.0_45"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_45-b14)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.45-b02, mixed mode)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
In Java 1.7 and before, I could create a new line in javadocs in one of two ways:

<p>

<p/>

Both of them worked fine. I tended to use the second one because the way most IDEs work these days, if I type <p>, it will immediately insert </p> after the cursor. This is fine tags that need content, but it's annoying for the <p> tag. Fortunately, this behavior may be easily defeated by typing <p/> instead.

Unfortunately, in Java 8, these gets generate the following error message:

error: self-closing element not allowed

Huh? This is completely unexpected, and as far as I can tell, completely superfluous. Self-closing elements are common in html and don't cause any problems.

A lot of javadocs code exists that uses self-closing elements, which must now be rewritten. Because this generates a javadoc error instead of a warning, it actually prevents the javadocs from generating documentation for the class.

There is also, as far as I can tell, no advantage to disallowing self-closing elements. In Java 1.7 and before, the <p/> would get inserted directly into the javadocs file, where it worked properly in every browser I tried.

Also, I couldn't find anything in the Javadocs documentation that describes this restriction. So this appears to be an undocumented restriction.

REGRESSION. Last worked in version 7u80

ADDITIONAL REGRESSION INFORMATION:
java version "1.7.0_40"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_40-b43)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 24.0-b56, mixed mode)

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
Generate Javadocs for the supplied annotation source

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
javadocs tool should generate html files with javadocs for the supplied source code.
ACTUAL -
Javadocs generates an error message, and no html files are created.

ERROR MESSAGES/STACK TRACES THAT OCCUR :
C:\quattro\MR82\uimodule\src\main\java\com\x\core\util\BusinessKey.java:6: error: self-closing element not allowed


REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
package com.x.core.util;


/**
 * BusinessKey annotation
 * <p/>
 * Marks the field for use in the hash-code() and equals() methods.
 */
public @interface BusinessKey {
}

---------- END SOURCE ----------