diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index f1077d5bb..512c8114a 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -287,6 +287,9 @@ Other changes:
 * <java> now supports a timeout attribute analog to <exec> - it is 
   highly recommended to only use it together with fork="true".
 
+* <javadoc> now supports a source attribute to enable javadoc to
+  handle assertions present in JDK 1.4 source code.
+
 Changes from Ant 1.4 to Ant 1.4.1
 ===========================================
 
diff --git a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javadoc.html b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javadoc.html
index db6f03e92..1f3753a13 100644
--- a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javadoc.html
+++ b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/javadoc.html
@@ -386,6 +386,16 @@ instead.</i></p>
     <td align="center" valign="top">all</td>
     <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">source</td>
+    <td valign="top">Necessary to enable javadoc to handle assertions
+    present in J2SE v 1.4 source code. Set this to &quot;1.4&quot; to
+    documents code that compiles using <code>&quot;javac -source
+    1.4&quot;</code>.  Will be ignored if you use a custom
+    doclet.</td>
+    <td align="center" valign="top">1.4</td>
+    <td align="center" valign="top">No</td>
+  </tr>
 </table>
 
 <h4><a name="groupattribute">Format of the group attribute</a></h4>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Javadoc.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Javadoc.java
index 9bd6c8ff9..bb6d69352 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Javadoc.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Javadoc.java
@@ -281,6 +281,7 @@ public class Javadoc extends Task {
     private boolean useExternalFile = false;
     private File tmpList = null;
     private FileUtils fileUtils = FileUtils.newFileUtils();
+    private String source = null;
 
     /**
      * Work around command line length limit by using an external file
@@ -431,7 +432,17 @@ public class Javadoc extends Task {
     }
     
     public void setOld(boolean b) {
-        add12ArgIf(b, "-1.1");
+        if (b) {
+            if (javadoc1) {
+                log("Javadoc 1.1 doesn't support the -1.1 switch", 
+                    Project.MSG_WARN);
+            } else if (javadoc4) {
+                log("Javadoc 1.4 doesn't support the -1.1 switch anymore", 
+                    Project.MSG_WARN);
+            } else {
+                cmd.createArgument().setValue("-1.1");
+            }
+        }
     }
     public void setClasspath(Path src) {
         if (classpath == null) {
@@ -896,6 +907,17 @@ public class Javadoc extends Task {
         failOnError = b;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Enables the -source switch, will be ignored if javadoc is not
+     * the 1.4 version or a different doclet than the standard doclet
+     * is used.
+     *
+     * @since 1.86, Ant 1.5
+     */
+    public void setSource(String source) {
+        this.source = source;
+    }
+
     public void execute() throws BuildException {
         if ("javadoc2".equals(taskType)) {
             log("!! javadoc2 is deprecated. Use javadoc instead. !!");
@@ -1096,6 +1118,16 @@ public class Javadoc extends Task {
                         }
                     }
                 }
+
+                if (source != null) {
+                    if (doclet != null) {
+                        log("ignoring source option for custom doclet",
+                            Project.MSG_WARN);
+                    } else {
+                        toExecute.createArgument().setValue("-source");
+                        toExecute.createArgument().setValue(source);
+                    }
+                }
             }
 
         }