diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/RedundantFieldInitializerRule.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/RedundantFieldInitializerRule.java
index af9d114d53..c8da3517b1 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/RedundantFieldInitializerRule.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/RedundantFieldInitializerRule.java
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
  */
 package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.optimizations;
 
+import java.math.BigInteger;
+
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.ast.Node;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTBooleanLiteral;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTCastExpression;
@@ -74,26 +76,26 @@ public class RedundantFieldInitializerRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
 			    } else if (literal.jjtGetNumChildren() == 0) {
 				// numeric type
 				// Note: Not catching NumberFormatException, as it shouldn't be happening on valid source code.
-				double value = -1;
+				Number value = -1;
 				if (literal.isIntLiteral()) {
-				    value = Integer.decode(literal.getImage()).doubleValue();
+				    value = parseInteger(literal.getImage());
 				} else if (literal.isLongLiteral()) {
 				    String s = literal.getImage();
 				    // remove the ending "l" or "L" for long values
 					s = s.substring(0, s.length() - 1);
-				    value = Long.decode(s).doubleValue();
+					value = parseInteger(s);
 				} else if (literal.isFloatLiteral()) {
                     String s = literal.getImage();
                     // remove the ending "f" or "F" for float values
                     s = s.substring(0, s.length() - 1);
-				    value = Float.parseFloat(literal.getImage());
+                    value = Float.valueOf(s);
 				} else if (literal.isDoubleLiteral()) {
-				    value = Double.parseDouble(literal.getImage());
+				    value = Double.valueOf(literal.getImage());
 				} else if (literal.isCharLiteral()) {
-				    value = literal.getImage().charAt(1);
+				    value = (int) literal.getImage().charAt(1);
 				}
 
-				if (value == 0) {
+				if (value.intValue() == 0) {
 				    addViolation(data, variableDeclarator);
 				}
 			    }
@@ -129,4 +131,25 @@ public class RedundantFieldInitializerRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
     private void addViolation(Object data, ASTVariableDeclarator variableDeclarator) {
 	super.addViolation(data, variableDeclarator, variableDeclarator.jjtGetChild(0).getImage());
     }
+
+    private Number parseInteger(String s) {
+        boolean negative = false;
+        String number = s;
+        if (number.charAt(0) == '-') {
+            negative = true;
+            number = number.substring(1);
+        }
+        BigInteger result;
+        if (number.startsWith("0x") || number.startsWith("0X")) {
+            result = new BigInteger(number.substring(2), 16);
+        } else if (s.startsWith("0") && s.length() > 1) {
+            result = new BigInteger(number.substring(1), 8);
+        } else {
+            result = new BigInteger(number);
+        }
+        if (negative) {
+            result = result.negate();
+        }
+        return result;
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/RedundantFieldInitializer.xml b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/RedundantFieldInitializer.xml
index 1e03f0a095..0d824599a7 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/RedundantFieldInitializer.xml
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/optimizations/xml/RedundantFieldInitializer.xml
@@ -1258,4 +1258,14 @@ public class Foo {
 }
      ]]></code>
 	</test-code>
+
+    <test-code>
+        <description>#1298 Member variable int type with value 0xff000000 causes processing error</description>
+        <expected-problems>0</expected-problems>
+        <code>
+public class LinePoint {
+    private int mColor = 0xFF000000;
+}
+        </code>
+    </test-code>
 </test-data>
diff --git a/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md b/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
index ecc02bb170..b538600251 100644
--- a/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
+++ b/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@
 **Pull Requests:**
 
 **Bugfixes:**
+
+* [#1298](https://sourceforge.net/p/pmd/bugs/1298/): Member variable int type with value 0xff000000 causes processing error