diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/NoFinalizerCheck.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/NoFinalizerCheck.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6fab6642f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/NoFinalizerCheck.java
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// checkstyle: Checks Java source code for adherence to a set of rules.
+// Copyright (C) 2001-2008  Oliver Burn
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+// version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.coding;
+
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.Check;
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.DetailAST;
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.TokenTypes;
+
+/**
+ * Checks that no method having zero parameters is defined
+ * using the name <em>finalize</em>.
+ *
+ * @author fqian@google.com (Feng Qian)
+ * @author smckay@google.com (Steve McKay)
+ * @author lkuehne
+ */
+public class NoFinalizerCheck extends Check
+{
+
+    @Override
+    public int[] getDefaultTokens()
+    {
+        return new int[] {TokenTypes.METHOD_DEF};
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void visitToken(DetailAST aAST)
+    {
+        final DetailAST mid = aAST.findFirstToken(TokenTypes.IDENT);
+        final String methodName = mid.getText();
+
+        if (methodName.equals("finalize")) {
+
+            final DetailAST params = aAST.findFirstToken(TokenTypes.PARAMETERS);
+            final boolean hasEmptyParamList =
+                !params.branchContains(TokenTypes.PARAMETER_DEF);
+
+            if (hasEmptyParamList) {
+                log(aAST.getLineNo(), "avoid.finalizer.method");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages.properties b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages.properties
index c5163da3c..76ad1b1e1 100644
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages.properties
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 array.trailing.comma=Array should contain trailing comma.
 assignment.inner.avoid=Inner assignments should be avoided.
+avoid.finalizer.method=Avoid using finalizer method.
 covariant.equals=covariant equals without overriding equals(java.lang.Object).
 declaration.order.constructor=Constructor definition in wrong order.
 declaration.order.method=Method definition in wrong order.
diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages_de.properties b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages_de.properties
index 6a8b64400..38207b472 100644
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages_de.properties
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/messages_de.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 array.trailing.comma=Array sollte mit einem Komma abheschlossen werden.
 assignment.inner.avoid=Innere Zuweisungen sollten vermieden werden.
+avoid.finalizer.method=Die Verwendung von finalizer Methoden sollte vermieden werden.
 covariant.equals=Kovariante Definition von equals() ohne equals(java.lang.Object) zu überschreiben.
 declaration.order.constructor=Konstruktordefinition in falscher Reihenfolge.
 declaration.order.method=Methodendefinition in falscher Reihenfolge.
diff --git a/src/testinputs/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/coding/InputHasFinalizer.java b/src/testinputs/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/coding/InputHasFinalizer.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df18827ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/testinputs/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/coding/InputHasFinalizer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.coding;
+
+public class InputHasFinalizer
+{
+    public void finalize()
+    {
+        // It's not enough to check if the METHOD_DEF branch contains a PARAMETER_DEF, as that would
+        // treat this method as having a parameter.
+        Runnable runnable = new Runnable() {
+        
+            public void run() {
+                reallyFinalize("hi");
+            }
+
+            // generates a PARAMETER_DEF AST inside the METHOD_DEF of finalize()
+            private void reallyFinalize(String s)
+            {
+            }
+        };
+        runnable.run();
+    }
+    
+    // should not be reported by NoFinalizer check
+    public void finalize(String x)
+    {
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/NoFinalizerCheckTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/NoFinalizerCheckTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..da1416ded
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/coding/NoFinalizerCheckTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.coding;
+
+
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.BaseCheckTestSupport;
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.DefaultConfiguration;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * NoFinalizerCheck test.
+ *
+ * @author smckay@google.com (Steve McKay)
+ */
+public class NoFinalizerCheckTest
+    extends BaseCheckTestSupport
+{
+    @Test
+    public void testHasFinalizer()
+        throws Exception
+    {
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(NoFinalizerCheck.class);
+        final String[] expected = {
+            "5: Avoid using finalizer method.",
+        };
+        verify(checkConfig, getPath("coding/InputHasFinalizer.java"), expected);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHasNoFinalizer()
+        throws Exception
+    {
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(NoFinalizerCheck.class);
+        final String[] expected = {
+        };
+        verify(checkConfig, getPath("coding/InputIllegalThrowsCheck.java"), expected);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/xdocs/config_coding.xml b/src/xdocs/config_coding.xml
index 9eb9e43ee..2cddb79df 100755
--- a/src/xdocs/config_coding.xml
+++ b/src/xdocs/config_coding.xml
@@ -1263,6 +1263,36 @@ if (&quot;something&quot;.equals(x))
       </subsection>
     </section>
 
+    <section name="NoFinalizer">
+      <subsection name="Description">
+        <p>
+          Verifies there are no <span class="code">finalize()</span> methods 
+          defined in a class.
+        </p>
+      </subsection>
+
+      <subsection name="Example">
+        <p>
+          To configure the check:
+        </p>
+        <source>
+&lt;module name=&quot;NoFinalizer&quot;/&gt;
+        </source>
+      </subsection>
+
+      <subsection name="Package">
+        <p>
+          com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.coding
+        </p>
+      </subsection>
+
+      <subsection name="Parent Module">
+        <p>
+          <a href="config.html#treewalker">TreeWalker</a>
+        </p>
+      </subsection>
+    </section>
+
     <section name="SuperClone">
       <subsection name="Description">
         <p>
@@ -1272,7 +1302,7 @@ if (&quot;something&quot;.equals(x))
 
         <p>
           Reference: <a
-          href="http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.1/docs/api/java/lang/Object.html#clone()">Object.clone()</a>.
+          href="http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/lang/Object.html#clone()">Object.clone()</a>.
         </p>
       </subsection>
 
diff --git a/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml b/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml
index d97573f3d..f14cd8cd2 100755
--- a/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml
+++ b/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
 
       <p>New Features:</p>
       <ul>
+        <li>
+          New check <a
+          href="config_coding.html#NoFinalizer">NoFinalizer</a>
+          for ensuring that a class does not define a finalize() method.
+          Thanks to Feng Qian and Steve McKay for providing patch #1892273.
+        </li>
         <li>
           New check <a
           href="config_whitespace.html#GenericWhitespace">GenericWhitespace</a>