diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/MethodNamingConventionsRule.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/MethodNamingConventionsRule.java
index de9e7f19c7..5f7068f20e 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/MethodNamingConventionsRule.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/MethodNamingConventionsRule.java
@@ -3,17 +3,37 @@
  */
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.naming;
 
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTCompilationUnit;
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTMethodDeclaration;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTMethodDeclarator;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.AbstractJavaRule;
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.properties.BooleanProperty;
 
 public class MethodNamingConventionsRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
 
+    private boolean checkNativeMethods;
+
+    private static final BooleanProperty CHECK_NATIVE_METHODS_DESCRIPTOR = new BooleanProperty("checkNativeMethods",
+            "Check native methods", true, 1.0f);
+
+    public MethodNamingConventionsRule() {
+        definePropertyDescriptor(CHECK_NATIVE_METHODS_DESCRIPTOR);
+    }
+
+    public Object visit(ASTCompilationUnit node, Object data) {
+        checkNativeMethods = getProperty(CHECK_NATIVE_METHODS_DESCRIPTOR);
+        return super.visit(node, data);
+    }
+
     public Object visit(ASTMethodDeclarator node, Object data) {
-    	
-    	String methodName = node.getImage();
-    	
+        if (!checkNativeMethods && node.getFirstParentOfType(ASTMethodDeclaration.class).isNative()) {
+            return data;
+        }
+
+        String methodName = node.getImage();
+
         if (Character.isUpperCase(methodName.charAt(0))) {
-        	addViolationWithMessage(data, node, "Method names should not start with capital letters");
+            addViolationWithMessage(data, node, "Method names should not start with capital letters");
         }
         if (methodName.indexOf('_') >= 0) {
             addViolationWithMessage(data, node, "Method names should not contain underscores");
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/xml/MethodNamingConventions.xml b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/xml/MethodNamingConventions.xml
index 3034d9c125..e962b685dc 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/xml/MethodNamingConventions.xml
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/naming/xml/MethodNamingConventions.xml
@@ -33,4 +33,25 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
     </test-code>
+    <test-code>
+        <description>#1288 MethodNamingConventions for native should be deactivated</description>
+        <expected-problems>0</expected-problems>
+        <rule-property name="checkNativeMethods">false</rule-property>
+        <code><![CDATA[
+public class Foo {
+    protected final native void __surfunc__(float[] data);
+}
+        ]]></code>
+    </test-code>
+    <test-code>
+        <description>#1288 MethodNamingConventions for native should be deactivated - prevent false negative</description>
+        <expected-problems>1</expected-problems>
+        <expected-linenumbers>2</expected-linenumbers>
+        <rule-property name="checkNativeMethods">true</rule-property>
+        <code><![CDATA[
+public class Foo {
+    protected final native void __surfunc__(float[] data);
+}
+        ]]></code>
+    </test-code>
 </test-data>
diff --git a/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md b/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
index 730e4ec75a..7100ffd8c1 100644
--- a/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
+++ b/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@
 
 **Feature Requests and Improvements:**
 
+* [#1288](https://sourceforge.net/p/pmd/bugs/1288/): MethodNamingConventions for native should be deactivated
 * [#1293](https://sourceforge.net/p/pmd/bugs/1293/): Disable VariableNamingConventions for native methods
 
 **New/Modified Rules:**
 
 * [Java / Design / UseVarargs](http://pmd.sourceforge.net/pmd-java/rules/java/design.html#UseVarargs): if `byte[]` is used as the last argument, it is ignored and no violation will be reported.
+* [Java / Naming / MethodNamingConventions](http://pmd.sourceforge.net/pmd-java/rules/java/naming.html#MethodNamingConventions): New property `checkNativeMethods`
 * [Java / Naming / VariableNamingConventions](http://pmd.sourceforge.net/pmd-java/rules/java/naming.html#VariableNamingConventions): New property `checkNativeMethodParameters`
 
 **Pull requests:**