diff --git a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/AbstractJavadocCheck.java b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/AbstractJavadocCheck.java
index 8a2b2e0af..77e7f90f8 100755
--- a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/AbstractJavadocCheck.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/AbstractJavadocCheck.java
@@ -276,25 +276,25 @@ public abstract class AbstractJavadocCheck extends Check
     /**
      * Converts ParseTree (that is generated by ANTLRv4) to DetailNode tree.
      *
-     * @param rootParseTree root node of ParseTree
+     * @param parseTreeNode root node of ParseTree
      * @return root of DetailNode tree
      */
-    private DetailNode convertParseTree2DetailNode(ParseTree rootParseTree)
+    private DetailNode convertParseTree2DetailNode(ParseTree parseTreeNode)
     {
-        final ParseTree currentParseTreeNode = rootParseTree;
-        final JavadocNodeImpl rootJavadocNode = createJavadocNode(currentParseTreeNode, null, -1);
+        final JavadocNodeImpl rootJavadocNode = createJavadocNode(parseTreeNode, null, -1);
 
-        int childCount = currentParseTreeNode.getChildCount();
-        JavadocNodeImpl[] children = (JavadocNodeImpl[]) rootJavadocNode.getChildren();
+        int childCount = parseTreeNode.getChildCount();
+        JavadocNodeImpl[] children = new JavadocNodeImpl[childCount];
 
         for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
-            final JavadocNodeImpl child = createJavadocNode(currentParseTreeNode.getChild(i)
+            final JavadocNodeImpl child = createJavadocNode(parseTreeNode.getChild(i)
                     , rootJavadocNode, i);
             children[i] = child;
         }
+        rootJavadocNode.setChildren(children);
 
         JavadocNodeImpl currentJavadocParent = rootJavadocNode;
-        ParseTree currentParseTreeParent = currentParseTreeNode;
+        ParseTree parseTreeParent = parseTreeNode;
 
         while (currentJavadocParent != null) {
             children = (JavadocNodeImpl[]) currentJavadocParent.getChildren();
@@ -302,10 +302,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractJavadocCheck extends Check
 
             for (int i = 0; i < childCount; i++) {
                 final JavadocNodeImpl currentJavadocNode = children[i];
-                final ParseTree currentParseTreeNodeChild = currentParseTreeParent.getChild(i);
+                final ParseTree currentParseTreeNodeChild = parseTreeParent.getChild(i);
 
-                final JavadocNodeImpl[] subChildren = (JavadocNodeImpl[]) currentJavadocNode
-                        .getChildren();
+                final JavadocNodeImpl[] subChildren =
+                        new JavadocNodeImpl[currentJavadocNode.getChildren().length];
 
                 for (int j = 0; j < subChildren.length; j++) {
                     final JavadocNodeImpl child =
@@ -314,23 +314,24 @@ public abstract class AbstractJavadocCheck extends Check
 
                     subChildren[j] = child;
                 }
+                currentJavadocNode.setChildren(subChildren);
             }
 
             if (childCount > 0) {
                 currentJavadocParent = children[0];
-                currentParseTreeParent = currentParseTreeParent.getChild(0);
+                parseTreeParent = parseTreeParent.getChild(0);
             }
             else {
                 JavadocNodeImpl nextJavadocSibling = (JavadocNodeImpl) JavadocUtils
                         .getNextSibling(currentJavadocParent);
 
-                ParseTree nextParseTreeSibling = getNextSibling(currentParseTreeParent);
+                ParseTree nextParseTreeSibling = getNextSibling(parseTreeParent);
 
                 if (nextJavadocSibling == null) {
                     JavadocNodeImpl tempJavadocParent =
                             (JavadocNodeImpl) currentJavadocParent.getParent();
 
-                    ParseTree tempParseTreeParent = currentParseTreeParent.getParent();
+                    ParseTree tempParseTreeParent = parseTreeParent.getParent();
 
                     while (nextJavadocSibling == null && tempJavadocParent != null) {
 
@@ -344,7 +345,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractJavadocCheck extends Check
                     }
                 }
                 currentJavadocParent = nextJavadocSibling;
-                currentParseTreeParent = nextParseTreeSibling;
+                parseTreeParent = nextParseTreeSibling;
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java
index 719292b9f..9b352dc01 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/javadoc/JavadocNodeImpl.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.javadoc;
 
 import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.DetailNode;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
+
 /**
  *
  * Implementation of DetailNode interface that is mutable.
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ public class JavadocNodeImpl implements DetailNode
     @Override
     public DetailNode[] getChildren()
     {
-        return children;
+        return Arrays.copyOf(children, children.length);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@ public class JavadocNodeImpl implements DetailNode
 
     public void setChildren(DetailNode[] children)
     {
-        this.children = children;
+        this.children = Arrays.copyOf(children, children.length);
     }
 
     public void setParent(DetailNode parent)