diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
index c8aa58b8c..e355c883d 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
@@ -290,7 +290,8 @@ public class Main implements AntMain {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Process command line arguments
+     * Process command line arguments.
+     * When ant is started from Launcher, the -lib argument does not get passed through to this routine.
      *
      * @param args the command line arguments.
      *
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/launch/Launcher.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/launch/Launcher.java
index 4dc5eaa4d..bbeeb9494 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/launch/Launcher.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/launch/Launcher.java
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLClassLoader;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.io.File;
+import java.util.StringTokenizer;
 
 /**
  *  This is a launcher for Ant.
@@ -117,6 +118,36 @@ public class Launcher {
             throw new IllegalStateException("Ant home is set incorrectly or "
                 + "ant could not be located");
         }
+        String libPath = "";
+        String[] newargs = null;
+        int argcount = -1;
+        for (argcount = 0; argcount < args.length -1; argcount++) {
+            if (args[argcount].equals("-lib")) {
+                libPath = args[argcount + 1];
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        if (libPath.equals("")) {
+           newargs = new String[args.length];
+           System.arraycopy(args, 0, newargs, 0, args.length);
+        } else {
+            newargs = new String[args.length - 2];
+            // copy the beginning of the args array
+            if (argcount > 0 ) {
+                System.arraycopy(args, 0, newargs, 0 ,argcount);
+            }
+            // copy the end of the args array
+            if ((argcount + 2 < args.length) && argcount > 0) {
+                System.arraycopy(args, argcount + 2, newargs, argcount, args.length - (argcount + 2));
+            }
+        }
+        StringTokenizer myTokenizer = new StringTokenizer(libPath, System.getProperty("path.separator"));
+        URL[] classPathJars = new URL[myTokenizer.countTokens()];
+        int classPathJarCount = 0;
+        while (myTokenizer.hasMoreElements()) {
+            String token = myTokenizer.nextToken();
+            classPathJars[classPathJarCount++] = new File(token).toURL();
+        }
 
 
         // Now try and find JAVA_HOME
@@ -129,13 +160,14 @@ public class Launcher {
         URL[] userJars = Locator.getLocationURLs(userLibDir);
 
 
-        int numJars = userJars.length + systemJars.length;
+        int numJars = classPathJars.length + userJars.length + systemJars.length;
         if (toolsJar != null) {
             numJars++;
         }
         URL[] jars = new URL[numJars];
-        System.arraycopy(userJars, 0, jars, 0, userJars.length);
-        System.arraycopy(systemJars, 0, jars, userJars.length,
+        System.arraycopy(classPathJars, 0, jars, 0, classPathJars.length);
+        System.arraycopy(userJars, 0, jars, classPathJars.length, userJars.length);
+        System.arraycopy(systemJars, 0, jars, userJars.length + classPathJars.length,
             systemJars.length);
 
         if (toolsJar != null) {
@@ -159,7 +191,7 @@ public class Launcher {
         try {
             Class mainClass = loader.loadClass(MAIN_CLASS);
             AntMain main = (AntMain) mainClass.newInstance();
-            main.startAnt(args, null, null);
+            main.startAnt(newargs, null, null);
         } catch (Throwable t) {
             t.printStackTrace();
         }
diff --git a/src/script/ant b/src/script/ant
index b383d44cc..794523d9f 100644
--- a/src/script/ant
+++ b/src/script/ant
@@ -100,10 +100,6 @@ if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-if [ -n "$CLASSPATH" ] ; then
-  LOCALCLASSPATH="$CLASSPATH"
-fi
-
 # in rpm_mode get ant/optional/xml parser&api from JAVALIBDIR
 if $rpm_mode; then
   JAVALIBDIR=/usr/share/java
@@ -156,14 +152,14 @@ fi
 
 if [ -n "$CYGHOME" ]; then
   if [ -n "$JIKESPATH" ]; then
-    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" -Djikes.class.path="$JIKESPATH" -Dcygwin.user.home="$CYGHOME" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@"
+    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" -Djikes.class.path="$JIKESPATH" -Dcygwin.user.home="$CYGHOME" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@" -lib "$CLASSPATH"
   else
-    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" -Dcygwin.user.home="$CYGHOME" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@"
+    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" -Dcygwin.user.home="$CYGHOME" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@" -lib "$CLASSPATH"
   fi
 else
   if [ -n "$JIKESPATH" ]; then
-    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" -Djikes.class.path="$JIKESPATH" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@"
+    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" -Djikes.class.path="$JIKESPATH" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@" -lib "$CLASSPATH"
   else
-    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@"
+    exec "$JAVACMD" $ANT_OPTS -classpath "$LOCALCLASSPATH" -Dant.home="${ANT_HOME}" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher $ANT_ARGS "$@" -lib "$CLASSPATH"
   fi
 fi
diff --git a/src/script/ant.bat b/src/script/ant.bat
index 6075466d9..8660f9f02 100755
--- a/src/script/ant.bat
+++ b/src/script/ant.bat
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ goto end
 
 :checkJava
 set _JAVACMD=%JAVACMD%
-set LOCALCLASSPATH=%ANT_HOME%\lib\ant-launcher.jar;%CLASSPATH%
+set LOCALCLASSPATH=%ANT_HOME%\lib\ant-launcher.jar
 
 if "%JAVA_HOME%" == "" goto noJavaHome
 if not exist "%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe" goto noJavaHome
@@ -68,13 +68,23 @@ if "%_JAVACMD%" == "" set _JAVACMD=java.exe
 if not "%JIKESPATH%"=="" goto runAntWithJikes
 
 :runAnt
+if not "%CLASSPATH%"=="" goto runAntWithClasspath
 "%_JAVACMD%" %ANT_OPTS% -classpath "%LOCALCLASSPATH%" "-Dant.home=%ANT_HOME%" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher %ANT_ARGS% %ANT_CMD_LINE_ARGS%
 goto end
 
+:runAntWithClasspath
+"%_JAVACMD%" %ANT_OPTS% -classpath "%LOCALCLASSPATH%" "-Dant.home=%ANT_HOME%" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher %ANT_ARGS% %ANT_CMD_LINE_ARGS% -lib "%CLASSPATH%"
+goto end
+
 :runAntWithJikes
+if not "%CLASSPATH%"=="" goto runAntWithJikesAndClasspath
 "%_JAVACMD%" %ANT_OPTS% -classpath "%LOCALCLASSPATH%" "-Dant.home=%ANT_HOME%" "-Djikes.class.path=%JIKESPATH%" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher %ANT_ARGS% %ANT_CMD_LINE_ARGS%
 goto end
 
+:runAntWithJikesAndClasspath
+"%_JAVACMD%" %ANT_OPTS% -classpath "%LOCALCLASSPATH%" "-Dant.home=%ANT_HOME%" "-Djikes.class.path=%JIKESPATH%" org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher %ANT_ARGS% %ANT_CMD_LINE_ARGS% -lib "%CLASSPATH%"
+goto end
+
 :end
 set LOCALCLASSPATH=
 set _JAVACMD=
diff --git a/src/script/runant.pl b/src/script/runant.pl
index 80fb2b10b..5232a9db5 100644
--- a/src/script/runant.pl
+++ b/src/script/runant.pl
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ use strict;
 #use warnings;
 
 #and set $debug to 1 to turn on trace info
-my $debug=0;
+my $debug=1;
 
 #######################################################################
 #
@@ -74,26 +74,7 @@ if(($^O eq "MSWin32") || ($^O eq "dos") || ($^O eq "cygwin") ||
         }
 
 #build up standard classpath
-my $localpath=$ENV{CLASSPATH};
-if ($localpath eq "")
-        {
-        print "warning: no initial classpath\n" if ($debug);
-        $localpath="";
-        }
-if ($onnetware == 1)
-{
-# avoid building a command line bigger than 512 characters - make localpath
-# only include the "extra" stuff, and add in the system classpath as an expanded
-# variable. 
-  $localpath="";
-} 
-
-if ($localpath eq "") {
-  $localpath = "$HOME/lib/ant-launcher.jar";
-} else {
-  $localpath = "$HOME/lib/ant-launcher.jar$s$localpath";
-}
-
+my $localpath = "$HOME/lib/ant-launcher.jar";
 #set JVM options and Ant arguments, if any
 my @ANT_OPTS=split(" ", $ENV{ANT_OPTS});
 my @ANT_ARGS=split(" ", $ENV{ANT_ARGS});
@@ -110,25 +91,21 @@ push @ARGS, @ANT_OPTS;
 
 my $CYGHOME = "";
 
+my $classpath=$ENV{CLASSPATH};
 if ($oncygwin == 1) {
   $localpath = `cygpath --path --windows $localpath`;
   chomp ($localpath);
+  if (! $classpath eq "")
+  {
+    $classpath = `cygpath --path --windows "$classpath"`;
+    chomp ($classpath);
+  }
   $HOME = `cygpath --path --windows $HOME`;
   chomp ($HOME);
   $CYGHOME = `cygpath --path --windows $ENV{HOME}`;
   chomp ($CYGHOME);
 }
-if ($onnetware == 1)
-{
-# make classpath literally $CLASSPATH; and then the contents of $localpath
-# this is to avoid pushing us over the 512 character limit
-# even skip the ; - that is already in $localpath
-  push @ARGS, "-classpath", "\$CLASSPATH$localpath";
-}
-else
-{
-  push @ARGS, "-classpath", "$localpath";
-}
+push @ARGS, "-classpath", "$localpath";
 push @ARGS, "-Dant.home=$HOME";
 if ( ! $CYGHOME eq "" )
 {
@@ -136,7 +113,20 @@ if ( ! $CYGHOME eq "" )
 }
 push @ARGS, "org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher", @ANT_ARGS;
 push @ARGS, @ARGV;
-
+if (! $classpath eq "")
+{
+  if ($onnetware == 1)
+  {
+    # make classpath literally $CLASSPATH
+    # this is to avoid pushing us over the 512 character limit
+    # even skip the ; - that is already in $localpath
+    push @ARGS, "-lib", "\$CLASSPATH";
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    push @ARGS, "-lib", "$classpath";
+  }
+}
 print "\n $JAVACMD @ARGS\n\n" if ($debug);
 
 my $returnValue = system $JAVACMD, @ARGS;