diff --git a/lib/tokenize.cpp b/lib/tokenize.cpp
index d5f967ea9..162eb4d25 100644
--- a/lib/tokenize.cpp
+++ b/lib/tokenize.cpp
@@ -6573,6 +6573,21 @@ bool Tokenizer::simplifyKnownVariables()
                 if (varid == 0)
                     continue;
 
+                // initialization of static variable => the value is not *known*
+                {
+                    bool isstatic = false;
+                    const Token *decl = tok2->previous();
+                    while (decl && (decl->isName() || decl->str() == "*")) {
+                        if (decl->str() == "static") {
+                            isstatic = true;
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        decl = decl->previous();
+                    }
+                    if (isstatic)
+                        continue;
+                }
+
                 // skip loop variable
                 if (Token::Match(tok2->tokAt(-2), "(|:: %type%")) {
                     const Token *tok3 = tok2->previous();
diff --git a/test/testtokenize.cpp b/test/testtokenize.cpp
index b1b27f46c..ef4921ab5 100644
--- a/test/testtokenize.cpp
+++ b/test/testtokenize.cpp
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ private:
         TEST_CASE(simplifyKnownVariables41);    // p=&x; if (p) ..
         TEST_CASE(simplifyKnownVariables42);    // ticket #2031 - known string value after strcpy
         TEST_CASE(simplifyKnownVariables43);
+        TEST_CASE(simplifyKnownVariables44);    // ticket #3117 - don't simplify static variables
         TEST_CASE(simplifyKnownVariablesBailOutAssign1);
         TEST_CASE(simplifyKnownVariablesBailOutAssign2);
         TEST_CASE(simplifyKnownVariablesBailOutFor1);
@@ -2107,6 +2108,18 @@ private:
         }
     }
 
+    void simplifyKnownVariables44() {
+        const char code[] = "void a() {\n"
+                            "    static int i = 10;\n"
+                            "    b(i++);\n"
+                            "}";
+        const char expected[] = "void a ( ) {\n"
+                                "static int i = 10 ;\n"
+                                "b ( i ++ ) ;\n"
+                                "}";
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(expected, tokenizeAndStringify(code, true));
+    }
+
     void simplifyKnownVariablesBailOutAssign1() {
         const char code[] = "int foo() {\n"
                             "    int i; i = 0;\n"