diff --git a/docs/pages/release_notes.md b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
index f1c6ab85a9..40f41e4d2e 100644
--- a/docs/pages/release_notes.md
+++ b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ we have measured up to 10% improvements during Type Resolution, Symbol Table ana
 *   java-codestyle
     *   [#1003](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1003): \[java] UnnecessaryConstructor triggered on required empty constructor (Dagger @Inject)
     *   [#1023](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1023): \[java] False positive for useless parenthesis
+*   java-errorprone
+    *   [#816](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/816): \[java] SingleMethodSingleton false positives with inner classes
 *   java-performance
     *   [#586](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/586): \[java] AvoidUsingShortType erroneously triggered on overrides of 3rd party methods
 
@@ -90,4 +92,5 @@ we have measured up to 10% improvements during Type Resolution, Symbol Table ana
 *   [#1012](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1012): \[java] JUnitAssertionsShouldIncludeMessage - False positive with assertEquals and JUnit5 - [BBG](https://github.com/djydewang)
 *   [#1024](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1024): \[java]Issue 558: Properlogger for enums - [Utku Cuhadaroglu](https://github.com/utkuc)
 *   [#1041](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1041): \[java] Make BasicProjectMemoizer thread safe. - [bergander](https://github.com/bergander)
+*   [#1044](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1044): \[java] Fix for issue #816 - [Akshat Bahety](https://github.com/akshatbahety)
 
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/SingleMethodSingletonRule.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/SingleMethodSingletonRule.java
index ead66d667a..8336ba8c0d 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/SingleMethodSingletonRule.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/SingleMethodSingletonRule.java
@@ -4,35 +4,49 @@
 
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.errorprone;
 
-import java.util.HashSet;
-import java.util.Set;
 
-import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTCompilationUnit;
+import java.util.List;
+
+
+
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceDeclaration;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTMethodDeclaration;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.AbstractJavaRule;
 
+/**
+ * Returns Checks if the singleton rule is used properly.
+ */
 public class SingleMethodSingletonRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
 
-    private Set<String> methodset = new HashSet<String>();
+    /**
+     * Checks for getInstance method usage in the same class.
+     * @param node of ASTCLass
+     * @param data of Object
+     * @return Object
+     *
+     */
 
-    @Override
-    public Object visit(ASTCompilationUnit node, Object data) {
-        methodset.clear();
-        return super.visit(node, data);
-    }
 
-    @Override
-    public Object visit(ASTMethodDeclaration node, Object data) {
-        if (node.getResultType().isVoid()) {
-            return super.visit(node, data);
-        }
+    public Object visit(ASTClassOrInterfaceDeclaration node, Object data) {
 
-        if ("getInstance".equals(node.getMethodName())) {
-            if (!methodset.add(node.getMethodName())) {
-                addViolation(data, node);
+
+        List<ASTMethodDeclaration> methods = node.findDescendantsOfType(ASTMethodDeclaration.class); // Find the name of methods in it
+
+        int count = 0;
+        for (ASTMethodDeclaration method : methods) {
+
+            if (method.getName().equals("getInstance")) {
+                count++;
+                if (count > 1) {
+                    addViolation(data, node);
+                    break;
+                }
             }
+
         }
 
+
         return super.visit(node, data);
+
     }
 }
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/SingleMethodSingleton.xml b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/SingleMethodSingleton.xml
index a04d3e2800..ea2cc5b43d 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/SingleMethodSingleton.xml
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/errorprone/xml/SingleMethodSingleton.xml
@@ -48,4 +48,27 @@ private static Singleton instance = null;
 ]]>
 		</code>
 	</test-code>
-</test-data>
\ No newline at end of file
+
+    <test-code>
+        <description><![CDATA[
+OK! Has two different getInstance() in different classes
+     ]]></description>
+        <expected-problems>0</expected-problems>
+        <code>
+            <![CDATA[
+final class Siblings {
+  static class Inner1 {
+    static Inner1 getInstance() { return null; }
+  }
+  static class Inner2 {
+    static Inner2 getInstance() { return null; }
+  }
+}
+]]>
+        </code>
+    </test-code>
+
+
+
+
+</test-data>