diff --git a/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt b/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
index d855fc0e22..ed83b3a4e6 100644
--- a/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
+++ b/pmd-java/etc/grammar/Java.jjt
@@ -2203,10 +2203,10 @@ void BlockStatement() #void:
     // or a local variable declaration follows.
     // This allows more modifiers for local variables than actually allowed
 
-    // The ModifierList is adopted by the next class to open
+    // The ModifierList is adopted by the next node to open
     ModifierList() (
         LOOKAHEAD({localTypeDeclAfterModifiers()}) LocalTypeDecl()
-      | LOOKAHEAD({true})                          LocalVariableDeclaration() ";"    { fixLastToken(); }
+      | LOOKAHEAD({true})                          LocalVariableDeclarationPendingModifiers() ";" { fixLastToken(); }
     )
 | LOOKAHEAD(1, <IDENTIFIER>)
  (
@@ -2263,6 +2263,15 @@ void LocalVariableDeclaration() :
   ( "," VariableDeclarator() )*
 }
 
+void LocalVariableDeclarationPendingModifiers() #LocalVariableDeclaration:
+{}
+{
+  // no ModifierList, it's pending at this time
+  LocalVariableType()
+  VariableDeclarator()
+  ( "," VariableDeclarator() )*
+}
+
 private void LocalVarModifierList() #ModifierList:
 {Set<JModifier> set = Collections.emptySet(); }
 {
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/Bug1429.txt b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/Bug1429.txt
index ff40731fd7..e166451b30 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/Bug1429.txt
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/Bug1429.txt
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
                                                 +- Block[@Size = "5", @containsComment = "false"]
                                                    +- LocalVariableDeclaration[@TypeInferred = "false", @Visibility = "local"]
                                                    |  +- ModifierList[@EffectiveModifiers = "{final}", @ExplicitModifiers = "{final}"]
-                                                   |  +- ModifierList[@EffectiveModifiers = "{}", @ExplicitModifiers = "{}"]
                                                    |  +- ClassOrInterfaceType[@FullyQualified = "false", @SimpleName = "String"]
                                                    |  +- VariableDeclarator[@Initializer = "true", @Name = "key"]
                                                    |     +- VariableDeclaratorId[@ArrayType = "false", @EnumConstant = "false", @ExceptionBlockParameter = "false", @Field = "false", @FormalParameter = "false", @LambdaParameter = "false", @LocalVariable = "true", @Name = "key", @PatternBinding = "false", @RecordComponent = "false", @ResourceDeclaration = "false", @TypeInferred = "false", @Visibility = "package"]
@@ -64,7 +63,6 @@
                                                    |        +- VariableAccess[@AccessType = "READ", @CompileTimeConstant = "false", @Image = "obj", @Name = "obj", @ParenthesisDepth = "0", @Parenthesized = "false"]
                                                    +- LocalVariableDeclaration[@TypeInferred = "false", @Visibility = "local"]
                                                    |  +- ModifierList[@EffectiveModifiers = "{final}", @ExplicitModifiers = "{final}"]
-                                                   |  +- ModifierList[@EffectiveModifiers = "{}", @ExplicitModifiers = "{}"]
                                                    |  +- ClassOrInterfaceType[@FullyQualified = "false", @SimpleName = "String"]
                                                    |  +- VariableDeclarator[@Initializer = "true", @Name = "value"]
                                                    |     +- VariableDeclaratorId[@ArrayType = "false", @EnumConstant = "false", @ExceptionBlockParameter = "false", @Field = "false", @FormalParameter = "false", @LambdaParameter = "false", @LocalVariable = "true", @Name = "value", @PatternBinding = "false", @RecordComponent = "false", @ResourceDeclaration = "false", @TypeInferred = "false", @Visibility = "package"]
diff --git a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases17.txt b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases17.txt
index de720d7008..edff15e87b 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases17.txt
+++ b/pmd-java/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/ast/ParserCornerCases17.txt
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@
          |        +- Block[@Size = "2", @containsComment = "false"]
          |           +- LocalVariableDeclaration[@TypeInferred = "false", @Visibility = "local"]
          |           |  +- ModifierList[@EffectiveModifiers = "{final}", @ExplicitModifiers = "{final}"]
-         |           |  +- ModifierList[@EffectiveModifiers = "{}", @ExplicitModifiers = "{}"]
          |           |  +- PrimitiveType[@Boolean = "false", @Image = "int", @ModelConstant = "int"]
          |           |  +- VariableDeclarator[@Initializer = "true", @Name = "register"]
          |           |     +- VariableDeclaratorId[@ArrayType = "false", @EnumConstant = "false", @ExceptionBlockParameter = "false", @Field = "false", @FormalParameter = "false", @LambdaParameter = "false", @LocalVariable = "true", @Name = "register", @PatternBinding = "false", @RecordComponent = "false", @ResourceDeclaration = "false", @TypeInferred = "false", @Visibility = "package"]