diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 8ef49eaf73..01188c6079 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ Additionally it includes CPD, the copy-paste-detector. CPD finds duplicated code
         <javacc.version>5.0</javacc.version>
         <surefire.version>2.22.1</surefire.version>
         <checkstyle.version>3.0.0</checkstyle.version>
-        <pmd.plugin.version>3.11.0</pmd.plugin.version>
+        <pmd.plugin.version>3.12.0</pmd.plugin.version>
         <ant.version>1.10.1</ant.version>
         <javadoc.plugin.version>3.0.1</javadoc.plugin.version>
         <antlr.version>4.7</antlr.version>