diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index 2b9c4127e..b515bea72 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -49,8 +49,10 @@ Other changes:
   select files from an archive for extraction.  Filesets may be 
   used to select archived files for unarchival.
 
-* Javac task allows debug levels to be spcified.  Debug levels
-  will have an effect only when the modern compiler is used.
+* Javac task allows debug levels to be specified.  Debug levels
+  will have an effect only when the modern compiler or the 
+  classic compiler (version 1.2 and higher) is used and debugging
+  is enabled.
 
 * Mail task allows specification of port number.
 
diff --git a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javac.html b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javac.html
index 4a0b29065..c60d553ef 100644
--- a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javac.html
+++ b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javac.html
@@ -231,10 +231,12 @@ files/directories from the CLASSPATH it passes to the compiler.</p>
     <td valign="top">debuglevel</td>
     <td valign="top">Keyword list to be appended to the <code>-g</code> command line
     switch.  This will be ignored by all implementations except
-    <code>modern</code>, legal values are &quot;none&quot; or a comma separated list of
-    the following keywords.  Valid keywords are &quot;lines&quot;, &quot;vars&quot; and
-    &quot;source&quot; - if debuglevel is not specified, by default, nothing will be
-    appended to <code>-g</code>
+    <code>modern</code> and <code>classic(ver >= 1.2)</code>, legal values are
+    &quot;none&quot; or a comma separated list of the following keywords.
+    Valid keywords are &quot;lines&quot;, &quot;vars&quot; and &quot;source&quot;
+    - if debuglevel is not specified, by default, nothing will be
+    appended to <code>-g</code>.  If debug is not turned on, this attribute will be
+    ignored.
     </td>
     <td align="center" valign="top">No</td>
   </tr>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/DefaultCompilerAdapter.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/DefaultCompilerAdapter.java
index bdd4d6aa0..e323d0e89 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/DefaultCompilerAdapter.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/DefaultCompilerAdapter.java
@@ -262,7 +262,10 @@ public abstract class DefaultCompilerAdapter implements CompilerAdapter {
             cmd.createArgument().setValue(encoding);
         }
         if (debug) {
-            if (useDebugLevel) {
+            if (useDebugLevel
+                && Project.getJavaVersion() != Project.JAVA_1_0
+                && Project.getJavaVersion() != Project.JAVA_1_1) {
+
                 String debugLevel = attributes.getDebugLevel();
                 if (debugLevel != null) {
                     cmd.createArgument().setValue("-g:" + debugLevel);
@@ -325,13 +328,17 @@ public abstract class DefaultCompilerAdapter implements CompilerAdapter {
         return cmd;
     }
 
+    protected Commandline setupJavacCommand() {
+        return setupJavacCommand(false);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Does the command line argument processing for classic and adds
      * the files to compile as well.
      */
-    protected Commandline setupJavacCommand() {
+    protected Commandline setupJavacCommand(boolean debugLevelCheck) {
         Commandline cmd = new Commandline();
-        setupJavacCommandlineSwitches(cmd);
+        setupJavacCommandlineSwitches(cmd, debugLevelCheck);
         logAndAddFilesToCompile(cmd);
         return cmd;
     }
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/Javac12.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/Javac12.java
index cc413ded7..b99bbd216 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/Javac12.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/compilers/Javac12.java
@@ -71,14 +71,14 @@ import java.lang.reflect.Method;
  *
  * @author James Davidson <a href="mailto:duncan@x180.com">duncan@x180.com</a>
  * @author Robin Green <a href="mailto:greenrd@hotmail.com">greenrd@hotmail.com</a>
- * @author <a href="mailto:stefan.bodewig@epost.de">Stefan Bodewig</a> 
+ * @author <a href="mailto:stefan.bodewig@epost.de">Stefan Bodewig</a>
  * @author <a href="mailto:jayglanville@home.com">J D Glanville</a>
  */
 public class Javac12 extends DefaultCompilerAdapter {
 
     public boolean execute() throws BuildException {
         attributes.log("Using classic compiler", Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
-        Commandline cmd = setupJavacCommand();
+        Commandline cmd = setupJavacCommand(true);
 
         OutputStream logstr = new LogOutputStream(attributes, Project.MSG_WARN);
         try {