diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
index e9160024f..89dad393c 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Project.java
@@ -930,8 +930,8 @@ public class Project implements ResourceFactory {
         setPropertyInternal(MagicNames.ANT_JAVA_VERSION, javaVersion);
 
         // sanity check
-        if (!JavaEnvUtils.isAtLeastJavaVersion(JavaEnvUtils.JAVA_1_5))  {
-            throw new BuildException("Ant cannot work on Java prior to 1.5");
+        if (!JavaEnvUtils.isAtLeastJavaVersion(JavaEnvUtils.JAVA_1_8))  {
+            throw new BuildException("Ant cannot work on Java prior to 1.8");
         }
         log("Detected Java version: " + javaVersion + " in: "
             + System.getProperty("java.home"), MSG_VERBOSE);
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java
index a551c0f6b..84e82fd30 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java
@@ -258,8 +258,8 @@ public final class JavaEnvUtils {
      * Compares the current Java version to the passed in String -
      * assumes the argument is one of the constants defined in this
      * class.
-     * Note that Ant now requires JDK 1.5+ so {@link #JAVA_1_0} through
-     * {@link #JAVA_1_4} need no longer be tested for.
+     * Note that Ant now requires JDK 1.8+ so {@link #JAVA_1_0} through
+     * {@link #JAVA_1_7} need no longer be tested for.
      * @param version the version to check against the current version.
      * @return true if the version of Java is the same as the given version.
      * @since Ant 1.5
@@ -273,8 +273,8 @@ public final class JavaEnvUtils {
      * Compares the current Java version to the passed in String -
      * assumes the argument is one of the constants defined in this
      * class.
-     * Note that Ant now requires JDK 1.5+ so {@link #JAVA_1_0} through
-     * {@link #JAVA_1_4} need no longer be tested for.
+     * Note that Ant now requires JDK 1.8+ so {@link #JAVA_1_0} through
+     * {@link #JAVA_1_7} need no longer be tested for.
      * @param version the version to check against the current version.
      * @return true if the version of Java is the same or higher than the
      * given version.