diff --git a/jdk/make/common/shared/Defs-java.gmk b/jdk/make/common/shared/Defs-java.gmk
index f9ed635313135f7d95d0102244c53c1724389337..eb63179f6d34f42e1c2cc73924b666a91230e65a 100644
--- a/jdk/make/common/shared/Defs-java.gmk
+++ b/jdk/make/common/shared/Defs-java.gmk
@@ -165,6 +165,11 @@ else
   JAVADOC_CMD   = $(JAVA_TOOLS_DIR)/javadoc $(JAVA_TOOLS_FLAGS:%=-J%)
 endif
 
+#always use the bootstrap javah until bug-ID 6889255 is fixed.  These
+#five lines should be removed as part of that fix:
+JAVAH_CMD     = $(JAVA_TOOLS_DIR)/javah \
+		  $(JAVAHFLAGS)
+
 # Override of what javac to use (see deploy workspace)
 ifdef JAVAC
   JAVAC_CMD     = $(JAVAC)