diff --git a/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.cpp b/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.cpp
index 075094930385e85e769c62e7e6cbb4be83a98ac4..aa93bc8f23c0c42f487c4081c270867282d82c21 100644
--- a/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.cpp
+++ b/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.cpp
@@ -8214,6 +8214,15 @@ void MacroAssembler::store_heap_oop(Address dst, Register src) {
   }
 }
 
+// Used for storing NULLs.
+void MacroAssembler::store_heap_oop_null(Address dst) {
+  if (UseCompressedOops) {
+    movl(dst, (int32_t)NULL_WORD);
+  } else {
+    movslq(dst, (int32_t)NULL_WORD);
+  }
+}
+
 // Algorithm must match oop.inline.hpp encode_heap_oop.
 void MacroAssembler::encode_heap_oop(Register r) {
   assert (UseCompressedOops, "should be compressed");
diff --git a/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.hpp b/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.hpp
index 2d61a3cf0aaf242117b36b3f95b5adec76472d9a..7aa0d0877a4c3be58d978f66e84e3834cd77072b 100644
--- a/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.hpp
+++ b/src/cpu/x86/vm/assembler_x86.hpp
@@ -1682,6 +1682,17 @@ class MacroAssembler: public Assembler {
 
   void load_heap_oop(Register dst, Address src);
   void store_heap_oop(Address dst, Register src);
+
+  // This dummy is to prevent a call to store_heap_oop from
+  // converting a zero (like NULL) into a Register by giving
+  // the compiler two choices it can't resolve
+
+  void store_heap_oop(Address dst, void* dummy);
+
+  // Used for storing NULL. All other oop constants should be
+  // stored using routines that take a jobject.
+  void store_heap_oop_null(Address dst);
+
   void encode_heap_oop(Register r);
   void decode_heap_oop(Register r);
   void encode_heap_oop_not_null(Register r);
diff --git a/src/cpu/x86/vm/templateTable_x86_64.cpp b/src/cpu/x86/vm/templateTable_x86_64.cpp
index 48285f46dddf18131ee3d7072fc0bf49b1b4aa37..1180227b59f4db3575bf7dbc996a44a684836148 100644
--- a/src/cpu/x86/vm/templateTable_x86_64.cpp
+++ b/src/cpu/x86/vm/templateTable_x86_64.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ static void do_oop_store(InterpreterMacroAssembler* _masm,
         }
         __ g1_write_barrier_pre(rdx, r8, rbx, val != noreg);
         if (val == noreg) {
-          __ store_heap_oop(Address(rdx, 0), NULL_WORD);
+          __ store_heap_oop_null(Address(rdx, 0));
         } else {
           __ store_heap_oop(Address(rdx, 0), val);
           __ g1_write_barrier_post(rdx, val, r8, rbx);
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ static void do_oop_store(InterpreterMacroAssembler* _masm,
     case BarrierSet::CardTableExtension:
       {
         if (val == noreg) {
-          __ store_heap_oop(obj, NULL_WORD);
+          __ store_heap_oop_null(obj);
         } else {
           __ store_heap_oop(obj, val);
           // flatten object address if needed
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ static void do_oop_store(InterpreterMacroAssembler* _masm,
     case BarrierSet::ModRef:
     case BarrierSet::Other:
       if (val == noreg) {
-        __ store_heap_oop(obj, NULL_WORD);
+        __ store_heap_oop_null(obj);
       } else {
         __ store_heap_oop(obj, val);
       }