diff --git a/make/InitSupport.gmk b/make/InitSupport.gmk
index c59e685bf4f..b6a0a8d5d6f 100644
--- a/make/InitSupport.gmk
+++ b/make/InitSupport.gmk
@@ -501,9 +501,12 @@ else # $(HAS_SPEC)=true
   # Failure logs are only supported for "parallel" main targets, not the
   # (trivial) sequential make targets (such as clean and reconfigure),
   # since the failure-logs directory creation will conflict with clean.
+  # We also make sure the javatmp directory exists, which is needed if a java
+  # process (like javac) is using java.io.tmpdir.
   define PrepareFailureLogs
 	$(RM) -r $(MAKESUPPORT_OUTPUTDIR)/failure-logs 2> /dev/null && \
 	$(MKDIR) -p $(MAKESUPPORT_OUTPUTDIR)/failure-logs
+	$(MKDIR) -p $(JAVA_TMP_DIR)
 	$(RM) $(MAKESUPPORT_OUTPUTDIR)/exit-with-error 2> /dev/null
   endef
 
diff --git a/make/autoconf/spec.gmk.template b/make/autoconf/spec.gmk.template
index 7ce4038f641..7ef1aee861a 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/spec.gmk.template
+++ b/make/autoconf/spec.gmk.template
@@ -353,6 +353,8 @@ BUNDLES_OUTPUTDIR = $(OUTPUTDIR)/bundles
 TESTMAKE_OUTPUTDIR = $(OUTPUTDIR)/test-make
 MAKESUPPORT_OUTPUTDIR = $(OUTPUTDIR)/make-support
 
+JAVA_TMP_DIR = $(SUPPORT_OUTPUTDIR)/javatmp
+
 # This does not get overridden in a bootcycle build
 CONFIGURESUPPORT_OUTPUTDIR := @CONFIGURESUPPORT_OUTPUTDIR@
 BUILDJDK_OUTPUTDIR = $(OUTPUTDIR)/buildjdk
@@ -634,7 +636,8 @@ STATIC_BUILD := @STATIC_BUILD@
 
 STRIPFLAGS := @STRIPFLAGS@
 
-JAVA_FLAGS := @JAVA_FLAGS@
+JAVA_FLAGS_TMPDIR := -Djava.io.tmpdir=$(JAVA_TMP_DIR)
+JAVA_FLAGS := @JAVA_FLAGS@ $(JAVA_FLAGS_TMPDIR)
 JAVA_FLAGS_BIG := @JAVA_FLAGS_BIG@
 JAVA_FLAGS_SMALL := @JAVA_FLAGS_SMALL@
 BUILD_JAVA_FLAGS_SMALL := @BUILD_JAVA_FLAGS_SMALL@
diff --git a/make/common/JavaCompilation.gmk b/make/common/JavaCompilation.gmk
index 259c1834da3..1503c86aff1 100644
--- a/make/common/JavaCompilation.gmk
+++ b/make/common/JavaCompilation.gmk
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ define SetupJavaCompilationBody
 
   ifeq ($$($1_COMPILER), bootjdk)
     # Javac server is not available when using the bootjdk compiler.
-    $1_JAVAC_CMD := $$(JAVAC)
+    $1_JAVAC_CMD := $$(JAVAC) -J$$(JAVA_FLAGS_TMPDIR)
 
     ifeq ($$($1_SMALL_JAVA), true)
       $1_FLAGS += $$(addprefix -J, $$(JAVA_FLAGS_SMALL))
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ define SetupJavaCompilationBody
       $1_TARGET_RELEASE := $$(TARGET_RELEASE_BOOTJDK)
     endif
   else ifeq ($$($1_COMPILER), buildjdk)
-    $1_JAVAC_CMD := $$(BUILD_JAVAC)
+    $1_JAVAC_CMD := $$(BUILD_JAVAC) -J$$(JAVA_FLAGS_TMPDIR)
 
     ifeq ($$($1_TARGET_RELEASE), )
       # If unspecified, default to the new jdk we're building