diff --git a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiterals.java b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiterals.java
index 3932c31a..1f4138dd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiterals.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiterals.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyList;
+import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
 import static org.openrewrite.Tree.randomId;
 
 @Value
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ public Duration getEstimatedEffortPerOccurrence() {
     public TreeVisitor<?, ExecutionContext> getVisitor() {
         return Preconditions.check(new UsesType<>("java.lang.String", false), new JavaVisitor<ExecutionContext>() {
             @Override
-            public J visit(@Nullable Tree tree, ExecutionContext ctx) {
+            public @Nullable J visit(@Nullable Tree tree, ExecutionContext ctx) {
                 if (tree instanceof JavaSourceFile) {
                     JavaSourceFile cu = (JavaSourceFile) tree;
                     Optional<JavaSourceSet> sourceSet = cu.getMarkers().findFirst(JavaSourceSet.class);
@@ -117,7 +118,8 @@ public J visitClassDeclaration(J.ClassDeclaration classDecl, ExecutionContext ct
                             continue;
                         }
                         J.Literal replaceLiteral = duplicateLiterals.get(0).withId(randomId());
-                        JavaTemplate template = JavaTemplate.builder("private static final String " + variableName + " = #{any(String)};").build();
+                        String modifiers = (classDecl.getKind() == J.ClassDeclaration.Kind.Type.Interface) ? "" : "private static final ";
+                        JavaTemplate template = JavaTemplate.builder(modifiers + "String " + variableName + " = #{any(String)};").build();
                         if (classDecl.getKind() == J.ClassDeclaration.Kind.Type.Enum) {
                             J.Block applied = template
                                     .apply(new Cursor(getCursor(), classDecl.getBody()), classDecl.getBody().getCoordinates().lastStatement(), replaceLiteral);
@@ -136,7 +138,7 @@ public J visitClassDeclaration(J.ClassDeclaration classDecl, ExecutionContext ct
                 duplicateLiteralInfo = null;
                 duplicateLiteralsMap = null;
                 return replacements.isEmpty() ? classDecl :
-                        new ReplaceStringLiterals(classDecl, replacements).visitNonNull(classDecl, ctx, getCursor().getParent());
+                        new ReplaceStringLiterals(classDecl, replacements).visitNonNull(classDecl, ctx, requireNonNull(getCursor().getParent()));
             }
 
             /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiteralsTest.java b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiteralsTest.java
index c58e48d5..63b3f7a8 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiteralsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/staticanalysis/ReplaceDuplicateStringLiteralsTest.java
@@ -577,4 +577,28 @@ enum Scratch {
           )
         );
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void interfaceLiteralsCannotBePrivate() {
+        rewriteRun(
+          //language=java
+          java(
+            """
+              interface A {
+                  String val1 = "value";
+                  String val2 = "value";
+                  String val3 = "value";
+              }
+              """,
+            """
+              interface A {
+                  String VALUE = "value";
+                  String val1 = VALUE;
+                  String val2 = VALUE;
+                  String val3 = VALUE;
+              }
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
 }