diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4f7aa83b..2729a4c2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .DS_Store
 .vscode
+.idea
 vendor/
 composer.lock
diff --git a/src/SymbolFinder.php b/src/SymbolFinder.php
index 3a489489..8fd42ab3 100644
--- a/src/SymbolFinder.php
+++ b/src/SymbolFinder.php
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ class SymbolFinder extends NodeVisitorAbstract
     ];
 
     /**
-     * @var LanguageServer\Protocol\SymbolInformation[]
+     * @var \LanguageServer\Protocol\SymbolInformation[]
      */
-    public $symbols;
+    public $symbols = [];
 
     /**
      * @var string
@@ -46,6 +46,22 @@ public function enterNode(Node $node)
         if (!isset(self::NODE_SYMBOL_KIND_MAP[$class])) {
             return;
         }
+
+        $symbol = end($this->symbols);
+        $kind = self::NODE_SYMBOL_KIND_MAP[$class];
+
+        // exclude variable symbols that are defined in methods and functions.
+        if ($symbol && $kind === SymbolKind::VARIABLE &&
+            ($symbol->kind === SymbolKind::METHOD || $symbol->kind === SymbolKind::FUNCTION)
+        ) {
+            if (
+                $node->getAttribute('startLine') - 1 > $symbol->location->range->start->line &&
+                $node->getAttribute('endLine') - 1 < $symbol->location->range->end->line
+            ) {
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
         $symbol = new SymbolInformation();
         $symbol->kind = self::NODE_SYMBOL_KIND_MAP[$class];
         $symbol->name = (string)$node->name;
diff --git a/tests/Server/TextDocumentTest.php b/tests/Server/TextDocumentTest.php
index 5cbe470a..697a2bdb 100644
--- a/tests/Server/TextDocumentTest.php
+++ b/tests/Server/TextDocumentTest.php
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ public function testDocumentSymbol()
         // Request symbols
         $result = $textDocument->documentSymbol(new TextDocumentIdentifier('whatever'));
         $this->assertEquals([
-           [
+            [
                 'name' => 'TestNamespace',
                 'kind' => SymbolKind::NAMESPACE,
                 'location' => [
@@ -96,24 +96,6 @@ public function testDocumentSymbol()
                 ],
                 'containerName' => null
             ],
-            [
-                'name' => 'testVariable',
-                'kind' => SymbolKind::VARIABLE,
-                'location' => [
-                    'uri' => 'whatever',
-                    'range' => [
-                        'start' => [
-                            'line' => 10,
-                            'character' => 8
-                        ],
-                        'end' => [
-                            'line' => 10,
-                            'character' => 20
-                        ]
-                    ]
-                ],
-                'containerName' => null
-            ],
             [
                 'name' => 'TestTrait',
                 'kind' => SymbolKind::CLASS_,
@@ -197,7 +179,7 @@ public function publishDiagnostics(string $uri, array $diagnostics)
             ]]
         ], json_decode(json_encode($args), true));
     }
-    
+
     public function testFormatting()
     {
         $textDocument = new Server\TextDocument(new LanguageClient(new MockProtocolStream()));
@@ -208,7 +190,7 @@ public function testFormatting()
         $textDocumentItem->version = 1;
         $textDocumentItem->text = file_get_contents(__DIR__ . '/../../fixtures/format.php');
         $textDocument->didOpen($textDocumentItem);
-        
+
         // how code should look after formatting
         $expected = file_get_contents(__DIR__ . '/../../fixtures/format_expected.php');
         // Request formatting