diff --git a/docs/pages/release_notes.md b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
index 2757866489..fa0a5b63b4 100644
--- a/docs/pages/release_notes.md
+++ b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
@@ -52,11 +52,13 @@ This is a {{ site.pmd.release_type }} release.
 
 ### Fixed Issues
 
+*   all
+    *   [#1196](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1196): \[core] CPD results not consistent between runs
 *   apex
     *   [#1542](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1542): \[apex] Include the documentation category
     *   [#1546](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1546): \[apex] PMD parsing exception for Apex classes using 'inherited sharing' keyword
 *   java
-    * [#1556](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1556): \[java] Default methods should not be considered abstract
+    *   [#1556](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1556): \[java] Default methods should not be considered abstract
     *   [#1578](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1578): \[java] Private field is detected as public inside nested classes in interfaces
 *   java-bestpractices
     *   [#658](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/658): \[java] OneDeclarationPerLine: False positive for loops
@@ -100,6 +102,7 @@ will also be removed.
 *   [#1551](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1551): \[java] InvalidSlf4jMessageFormatRule should not throw NPE for enums - [Robbie Martinus](https://github.com/rmartinus)
 *   [#1552](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1552): \[core] Upgrading Google Gson from 2.5 to 2.8.5 - [Thunderforge](https://github.com/Thunderforge)
 *   [#1553](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1553): \[core] Upgrading System Rules dependency from 1.8.0 to 1.19.0 - [Thunderforge](https://github.com/Thunderforge)
+*   [#1584](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/1584): \[core] Fixes 1196: inconsistencies of clones returned by different CPD executions for the same files  - [Bruno Ferreira](https://github.com/bmbferreira)
 
 {% endtocmaker %}
 
diff --git a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/FileFinder.java b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/FileFinder.java
index 544e10dad6..d4719bb444 100644
--- a/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/FileFinder.java
+++ b/pmd-core/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/util/FileFinder.java
@@ -7,20 +7,31 @@ package net.sourceforge.pmd.util;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FilenameFilter;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import org.apache.commons.io.comparator.PathFileComparator;
+
 /**
  * A utility class for finding files within a directory.
  */
 public class FileFinder {
 
     private FilenameFilter filter;
-    private static final String FILE_SEP = System.getProperty("file.separator");
 
+    /**
+     * Searches for files in a given directory.
+     *
+     * @param dir     the directory to search files
+     * @param filter  the filename filter that can optionally be passed to get files that match this filter
+     * @param recurse search for files recursively or not
+     * @return list of files from the given directory
+     */
     public List<File> findFilesFrom(File dir, FilenameFilter filter, boolean recurse) {
         this.filter = filter;
         List<File> files = new ArrayList<>();
         scanDirectory(dir, files, recurse);
+
         return files;
     }
 
@@ -28,18 +39,20 @@ public class FileFinder {
      * Implements a tail recursive file scanner
      */
     private void scanDirectory(File dir, List<File> list, boolean recurse) {
-        String[] candidates = dir.list(filter);
+        File[] candidates = dir.listFiles(filter);
         if (candidates == null) {
             return;
         }
-        for (int i = 0; i < candidates.length; i++) {
-            File tmp = new File(dir + FILE_SEP + candidates[i]);
+
+        Arrays.sort(candidates, PathFileComparator.PATH_INSENSITIVE_COMPARATOR);
+
+        for (File tmp : candidates) {
             if (tmp.isDirectory()) {
                 if (recurse) {
                     scanDirectory(tmp, list, true);
                 }
             } else {
-                list.add(new File(dir + FILE_SEP + candidates[i]));
+                list.add(tmp);
             }
         }
     }