diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index a7494f031..d339ff6e1 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ Fixed bugs:
  * Ant 1.8 exec task changes have slowed exec to a crawl
    Bugzilla Report 54128.
 
+ * Apt is not available under JDK 1.8
+   Bugzilla Report 55922.
+
+
 Other changes:
 --------------
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Apt.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Apt.java
index d49ee47e4..3f91af21d 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Apt.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Apt.java
@@ -262,6 +262,9 @@ public class Apt
      */
     public void execute()
             throws BuildException {
+        if (JavaEnvUtils.getJavaVersionNumber() >= 18) {
+           throw new BuildException("apt does not exist under Java 1.8 and higher");
+        }
         super.execute();
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt.xml b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt-test.xml
similarity index 70%
rename from src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt.xml
rename to src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt-test.xml
index 6f59bf036..9b2400111 100644
--- a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt.xml
+++ b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt-test.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   limitations under the License.
 -->
-<project basedir=".">
+<project default="antunit" xmlns:au="antlib:org.apache.ant.antunit">
+  <import file="../antunit-base.xml" />
   <!-- apt tests -->
 
   <property name="build.dir" location="aptbuild" />
@@ -39,21 +40,29 @@
     </sequential>
   </macrodef>
 
+  <macrodef name="assertProcessed">
+    <sequential>
+      <au:assertLogContains text="DistributedAnnotationProcessor-is-go"/>
+      <au:assertLogContains text="[-Abuild.dir="/>
+      <au:assertLogContains text="visiting DistributedAnnotationFactory"/>
+    </sequential>
+  </macrodef>
+
   <presetdef name="assertAptExampleCompiled">
     <assertCompiled file="${AptExample.class}"/>
   </presetdef>
 
-  <target name="clean">
+  <target name="tearDown" depends="antunit-base.tearDown">
     <delete dir="${build.dir}"/>
   </target>
 
-  <target name="init">
+  <target name="setUp">
     <mkdir dir="${classes.dir}"/>
     <mkdir dir="${classes2.dir}"/>
     <mkdir dir="${preprocess.dir}"/>
   </target>
 
-  <target name="testApt" depends="init">
+  <target name="testApt" depends="setUp" unless="jdk1.8+">
     <apt srcdir="${src}"
          destdir="${classes.dir}"
          debug="on"
@@ -63,7 +72,7 @@
     <assertAptExampleCompiled />
   </target>
 
-  <target name="testAptFork" depends="init">
+  <target name="testAptFork" depends="setUp" unless="jdk1.8+">
     <apt srcdir="${src}"
          destdir="${classes.dir}"
          debug="on"
@@ -74,7 +83,7 @@
     <assertAptExampleCompiled />
   </target>
 
-  <target name="testAptForkFalse" depends="init">
+  <target name="testAptForkFalse" depends="setUp" unless="jdk1.8+">
     <apt srcdir="${src}"
          destdir="${classes.dir}"
          debug="on"
@@ -83,9 +92,11 @@
          preprocessdir="${preprocess.dir}">
     </apt>
     <assertAptExampleCompiled />
+    <au:assertLogContains text="Apt only runs in its own JVM; fork=false option ignored"/>
+
   </target>
 
-  <target name="testListAnnotationTypes" depends="init">
+  <target name="testListAnnotationTypes" depends="setUp" unless="jdk1.8+">
     <apt srcdir="${src}"
          destdir="${classes.dir}"
          debug="on"
@@ -96,13 +107,15 @@
     </apt>
   
     <assertAptExampleCompiled />
+    <au:assertLogContains text="Set of annotations found:"/>
+    <au:assertLogContains text="Distributed"/>
   </target>
 
 
   <!-- use the factory we compiled. To avoid trouble
     we deliver into a version in a new classpath, otherwise
     the dependency logic will not run Apt-->
-  <target name="testAptNewFactory" depends="testApt">
+  <target name="testAptNewFactory" depends="testApt" unless="jdk1.8+">
     <apt srcdir="${src}"
          destdir="${classes2.dir}"
          debug="on"
@@ -113,9 +126,10 @@
          <option name="build.dir" value="${build.dir}" />
     </apt>
     <assertAptExampleCompiled />
+    <assertProcessed />
   </target>
 
-  <target name="testAptNewFactoryFork" depends="testApt">
+  <target name="testAptNewFactoryFork" depends="testApt" unless="jdk1.8+">
     <apt srcdir="${src}"
          destdir="${classes2.dir}"
          debug="on"
@@ -127,5 +141,18 @@
          <option name="build.dir" value="${build.dir}" />
     </apt>
     <assertAptExampleCompiled />
+    <assertProcessed />
+  </target>
+
+  <target name="testAptUnderJDK18" if="jdk1.8+">
+    <au:expectfailure expectedMessage="apt does not exist under Java 1.8 and higher">
+      <apt srcdir="${src}"
+           destdir="${classes.dir}"
+           debug="on"
+           compile="true"
+           fork="true"
+           preprocessdir="${preprocess.dir}">
+      </apt>
+    </au:expectfailure>
   </target>
 </project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/AptExample.java b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/AptExample.java
similarity index 100%
rename from src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/AptExample.java
rename to src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/AptExample.java
diff --git a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/Distributed.java b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/Distributed.java
similarity index 100%
rename from src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/Distributed.java
rename to src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/Distributed.java
diff --git a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationFactory.java b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationFactory.java
similarity index 100%
rename from src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationFactory.java
rename to src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationFactory.java
diff --git a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationProcessor.java b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationProcessor.java
similarity index 100%
rename from src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationProcessor.java
rename to src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/apt/DistributedAnnotationProcessor.java
diff --git a/src/tests/junit/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/AptTest.java b/src/tests/junit/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/AptTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index e7a65db88..000000000
--- a/src/tests/junit/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/AptTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,77 +0,0 @@
-/*
- *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
- *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
- *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
- *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
- *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
- *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- *  limitations under the License.
- *
- */
-
- package org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs;
-
-import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildFileTest;
-
-/**
- */
-public class AptTest extends BuildFileTest {
-    public AptTest(String name) {
-        super(name);
-    }
-
-    public void setUp() {
-        configureProject("src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/apt.xml");
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Tears down the fixture, for example, close a network connection. This
-     * method is called after a test is executed.
-     */
-    protected void tearDown() throws Exception {
-        executeTarget("clean");
-    }
-
-    public void testApt() {
-        executeTarget("testApt");
-    }
-
-    public void testAptFork() {
-        executeTarget("testAptFork");
-    }
- 
-    public void testAptForkFalse() {
-        executeTarget("testAptForkFalse");
-        assertLogContaining(Apt.WARNING_IGNORING_FORK);
-    }
-
-    public void testListAnnotationTypes() {
-        executeTarget("testListAnnotationTypes");
-        assertLogContaining("Set of annotations found:");
-        assertLogContaining("Distributed");
-    }
-
-    public void testAptNewFactory() {
-        executeTarget("testAptNewFactory");
-        assertProcessed();
-    }
-
-    public void testAptNewFactoryFork() {
-        executeTarget("testAptNewFactoryFork");
-        assertProcessed();
-    }
-    
-    private void assertProcessed() {
-        assertLogContaining("DistributedAnnotationProcessor-is-go");
-        assertLogContaining("[-Abuild.dir=");
-        assertLogContaining("visiting DistributedAnnotationFactory");
-    }
-}
-