A method and system for automatically refining information extraction (IE) rules. A provenance graph for IE rules on a set of test documents is determined. The provenance graph indicates a sequence of evaluations of the IE rules that generates an output of each operator of the IE rules. Based on the provenance graph, high-level rule changes (HLCs) of the IE rules are determined. Low-level rule changes (LLCs) of the IE rules are determined to specify how to implement the HLCs. Each LLC specifies changing an operator's structure or inserting a new operator in between two operators. Based on how the LLCs affect the IE rules and previously received correct results of applying the rules on the test documents, a ranked list of the LLCs is determined. The IE rules are refined based on the ranked list.