diff --git a/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/JavadocMemberEnter.java b/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/JavadocMemberEnter.java
index e29ae0054021e8b8d5ae0e5b9b5ca6ad9a764b0b..bb4eee23cc3fb787325b71353cb956cbbfb89f54 100644
--- a/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/JavadocMemberEnter.java
+++ b/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/JavadocMemberEnter.java
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ public class JavadocMemberEnter extends MemberEnter {
             docenv.makeAnnotationTypeElementDoc(meth, docComment, tree, lineMap);
         else
             docenv.makeMethodDoc(meth, docComment, tree, lineMap);
+
+        // release resources
+        tree.body = null;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/Start.java b/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/Start.java
index 67f5e4cc40acf81025f6b0b1cdbf55467191a1a6..44c55d19d015f2af99a5d2b6df1373a3b03de652 100644
--- a/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/Start.java
+++ b/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/javadoc/Start.java
@@ -394,6 +394,9 @@ class Start {
                 // legacy?
                 languageVersion == null || languageVersion == LanguageVersion.JAVA_1_1, quiet);
 
+        // release resources
+        comp = null;
+
         // pass off control to the doclet
         boolean ok = root != null;
         if (ok) ok = docletInvoker.start(root);