diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index cdba3e1f6..50ad97e0f 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -90,6 +90,10 @@ Fixed bugs:
 * nested <classpath> elements of <taskdef> now work for <taskdef>s not
   nested into <target> as well.
 
+* <property> and <available> will search for the resource /foo instead
+  of /org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/foo when given a relative resource
+  name foo.
+
 Changes from Ant 1.1 to Ant 1.2
 ===============================
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Available.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Available.java
index acf51081c..727992798 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Available.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Available.java
@@ -144,7 +144,13 @@ public class Available extends Task {
         if (loader != null) {
             return (loader.getResourceAsStream(resource) != null);
         } else {
-            return (this.getClass().getResourceAsStream(resource) != null);
+            ClassLoader cL = this.getClass().getClassLoader();
+            if (cL != null) {
+                return (cL.getResourceAsStream(resource) != null);
+            } else {
+                return 
+                    (ClassLoader.getSystemResourceAsStream(resource) != null);
+            }
         }
     }