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 f9d18882f5..b12443b8eb 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
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ public class RedundantFieldInitializerRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
                                     value = (int) literal.getImage().charAt(1);
                                 }
 
-                                if (value.longValue() == 0) {
+                                if (value.doubleValue() == 0) {
                                     addViolation(data, variableDeclarator);
                                 }
                             }
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 ad2450bc61..72cd71aa88 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
@@ -1299,6 +1299,16 @@ public class Bar {
         <code><![CDATA[
 public class SomeClass {
     private long someNumber = 0x100000000000L;
+}
+        ]]></code>
+    </test-code>
+
+    <test-code>
+        <description>#1443 RedundantFieldInitializer: False positive for small floats</description>
+        <expected-problems>0</expected-problems>
+        <code><![CDATA[
+public class SomeClass {
+    private float someNumber = 0.1f;
 }
         ]]></code>
     </test-code>
diff --git a/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md b/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
index 91a4594c44..9f5fd8c76f 100644
--- a/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
+++ b/src/site/markdown/overview/changelog.md
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
         annotated with @VisibleForTesting
 *   java-finalizers/AvoidCallingFinalize
     *   [#1440](https://sourceforge.net/p/pmd/bugs/1440/): NPE in AvoidCallingFinalize
+*   java-optimizations/RedundantFieldInitializer
+    *   [#1443](https://sourceforge.net/p/pmd/bugs/1443/): RedundantFieldInitializer: False positive for small floats
 *   java-unusedcode/UnusedPrivateField
     *   [#1428](https://sourceforge.net/p/pmd/bugs/1428/): False positive in UnusedPrivateField when local variable
         hides member variable