diff --git a/cobc/codegen.c b/cobc/codegen.c
index 643f4378..910e40e0 100644
--- a/cobc/codegen.c
+++ b/cobc/codegen.c
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ lookup_source (const char *p)
 }
 
 static void
-lookup_java_call(const char *p)
+lookup_java_call (const char *p)
 {
 	struct call_list *clp;
 
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ lookup_java_call(const char *p)
 		}
 	}
 	clp = cobc_parse_malloc (sizeof (struct call_list));
-	clp->call_name = p;
+	clp->call_name = cobc_parse_strdup (p);
 	clp->next = call_java_cache;
 	call_java_cache = clp;
 }
@@ -7091,73 +7091,70 @@ output_field_constant (cb_tree x, int n, const char *flagname)
 }
 
 static void
-output_exception_handling(struct cb_call *p)
+output_exception_handling (struct cb_call *p)
 {
-    if (p->stmt1) {
-        output_line("cob_glob_ptr->cob_stmt_exception = 1;");
-        output_line("COB_RESET_EXCEPTION(0);");
-    } else {
-        output_line("cob_glob_ptr->cob_stmt_exception = 0;");
-    }
+	if (p->stmt1) {
+		output_line ("cob_glob_ptr->cob_stmt_exception = 1;");
+		output_line ("COB_RESET_EXCEPTION(0);");
+	} else {
+		output_line ("cob_glob_ptr->cob_stmt_exception = 0;");
+	}
 
-    output_line("if ((cob_glob_ptr->cob_exception_code & 0xff00) != 0) ");
-    output_block_open();
+	output_line ("if ((cob_glob_ptr->cob_exception_code & 0xff00) != 0) ");
+	output_block_open ();
 
-    if (p->stmt1) {
-        output_stmt(p->stmt1);  
-    } else if (p->stmt2) {
-        output_stmt(p->stmt2);
+	if (p->stmt1) {
+		output_stmt (p->stmt1);
+	} else if (p->stmt2) {
+		output_stmt (p->stmt2);
 	}
-    output_block_close();
-    output_line("COB_RESET_EXCEPTION(0);");
+	output_block_close ();
+	output_line ("COB_RESET_EXCEPTION(0);");
 }
 
 static void
-output_java_call(struct cb_call *p)
+output_java_call (struct cb_call *p)
 {
-    if (p->args != NULL || p->call_returning != NULL) {
-        CB_PENDING("Java method call with parameters or return values");
-        COBC_ABORT();
-    }
+	char		*full_name, *class_and_method_name, *last_dot;
+	const char	*class_name, *method_name;
+	char		mangled[COB_NORMAL_BUFF];
 
-    char* full_name = (char*)CB_LITERAL(p->name)->data; /* Assume java.prefix (enforced in `parser.y`, rule `call_body`) */
-    char* class_and_method_name = full_name + 5;
-    char *last_dot;
-    char *method_name;
-    const char *class_name;
-    char* mangled;
+	/* TODO: move that back into cb_check_conformance (*) */
+	if (p->args != NULL || p->call_returning != NULL) {
+		CB_PENDING("Java method call with parameters or return values");
+		COBC_ABORT();
+	}
 
-    // Directly duplicate the class_and_method_name
-    mangled = strdup(class_and_method_name);
-    if (!mangled) {
-        cobc_err_msg(_("Memory allocation failed for mangled name"));
-        COBC_ABORT();
-    }
+	full_name = (char*)CB_LITERAL(p->name)->data;
 
-    last_dot = strrchr (mangled, '.');
-    *last_dot = '_';
-    lookup_java_call(mangled);
+	/* Assume "Java." prefix (enforced in `parser.y`, rule `call_body`) */
+	class_and_method_name = full_name + 5;
 
-    last_dot = strrchr(class_and_method_name, '.');
+	strncpy (mangled, class_and_method_name, COB_NORMAL_MAX);
+	last_dot = strrchr (mangled, '.');
+	*last_dot = '_';
+	lookup_java_call (mangled);
 
-    if (last_dot == NULL) {
-        cobc_err_msg(_("malformed call '%s' to a Java method"), class_and_method_name);
-        cobc_free(mangled);
-        return;
-    }
+	last_dot = strrchr (class_and_method_name, '.');
+	/* TODO: same as (*) above */
+	if (last_dot == NULL) {
+		cobc_err_msg(_("malformed call '%s' to a Java method"), class_and_method_name);
+		cobc_free(mangled);
+		return;
+	}
 
-    *last_dot = '\0';
-    method_name = last_dot + 1;
-    class_name = class_and_method_name;
+	*last_dot = '\0';
+	method_name = last_dot + 1;
+	class_name = class_and_method_name;
 
-    output_line("if (call_java_%s == NULL)", mangled);
-    output_block_open();
+	output_line ("if (call_java_%s == NULL)", mangled);
+	output_block_open ();
+	output_line ("call_java_%s = cob_resolve_java (\"%s\", \"%s\", \"()V\");",
+		     mangled, class_name, method_name);
+	output_line ("cob_call_java (call_java_%s);", mangled);
+	output_block_close ();
 
-    output_line("call_java_%s = cob_resolve_java(\"%s\", \"%s\", \"()V\");",
-		mangled, class_name, method_name);
-    output_line("cob_call_java(call_java_%s);", mangled);
-    output_block_close();
-    output_exception_handling(p);
+	output_exception_handling (p);
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8191a5e9..190d5e8d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ dnl done via AC_CHECK_FUNCS: AH_TEMPLATE([HAVE_RAISE], [Has raise function])
 AH_TEMPLATE([HAVE_FINITE_IEEEFP_H],
 	[Declaration of finite function in ieeefp.h instead of math.h])
 
+AH_TEMPLATE([COB_JAVA_ARCH], [Java platform architecture])
+
 dnl preparation for cross-compilation
 AC_ARG_PROGRAM
 
@@ -951,6 +953,11 @@ AS_IF([test "x$with_java" != "xno"], [
 		AC_MSG_NOTICE([Given Java home: ${JAVA_HOME}])
 	fi
 
+	dnl Note: One more hack needed to properly locate libjvm with
+	dnl early versions of openjdk (1.8 at least).
+	JAVA_ARCH="$( $JAVA -XshowSettings:properties -version 2>&1 >/dev/null | \
+		      $SED -e '/^[ ]*os.arch/!d' -e 's/.*=[ ]*//' )"
+
 	dnl Note: AX_PROG_JAVAC might find a `javac` binary that does
 	dnl not match the version of `$JAVA` found above, so we set
 	dnl its path manually.
@@ -962,15 +969,17 @@ AS_IF([test "x$with_java" != "xno"], [
 		for JNI_INCLUDE_DIR in $JNI_INCLUDE_DIRS; do
 		    JNI_CPPFLAGS="$JNI_CPPFLAGS -I$JNI_INCLUDE_DIR"
 		done
-		for _dir in "${JAVA_HOME}/jre/lib" "${JAVA_HOME}/lib"; do
+		for _dir in "${JAVA_HOME}/jre/lib" \
+			    "${JAVA_HOME}/jre/lib/${JAVA_ARCH}" \
+			    "${JAVA_HOME}/lib"; do
 		    if test -d "$_dir"; then
 			JNI_LIBS="$JNI_LIBS -L$_dir"
-		    fi
-		    if test -d "$_dir/server"; then
-			JNI_LIBS="$JNI_LIBS -L$_dir/server"
-		    fi
-		    if test -d "$_dir/client"; then
-			JNI_LIBS="$JNI_LIBS -L$_dir/client"
+			if test -d "$_dir/server"; then
+				JNI_LIBS="$JNI_LIBS -L$_dir/server"
+			fi
+			if test -d "$_dir/client"; then
+				JNI_LIBS="$JNI_LIBS -L$_dir/client"
+			fi
 		    fi
 		done
 		curr_LIBS="$LIBS"
@@ -988,6 +997,7 @@ AS_IF([test "x$with_java" != "xno"], [
 		], [
 		        AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
 			AC_DEFINE([WITH_JNI], [1])
+			AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([COB_JAVA_ARCH], ["$JAVA_ARCH"])
 			JNI_LDFLAGS="$JNI_LIBS"
 			JNI_LIBS="-ljvm"
 			cob_has_jni=yes
diff --git a/libcob/call.c b/libcob/call.c
index 9b3dc391..f38e2433 100644
--- a/libcob/call.c
+++ b/libcob/call.c
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ lt_dlerror (void)
 static lt_dlhandle jvm_handle = NULL;
 #else
 /* Using libltdl, no need to preload. */
-# define JVM_PRELOAD 0
 #endif
 
 #include "sysdefines.h"
@@ -1855,7 +1854,7 @@ cob_exit_call (void)
 	}
 	base_dynload_ptr = NULL;
 
-#if JVM_PRELOAD
+#ifdef JVM_PRELOAD
 	if (jvm_handle) {
 		lt_dlclose (jvm_handle);
 		jvm_handle = NULL;
@@ -1993,6 +1992,8 @@ cob_init_call (cob_global *lptr, cob_settings* sptr, const int check_mainhandle)
 
 /* Java API handling */
 
+#ifdef WITH_JNI
+
 /* "Standard" path suffixes to the dynamically loadable JVM library, from
    "typical" JAVA_HOME. */
 const char* const path_to_jvm[] = {
@@ -2003,7 +2004,11 @@ const char* const path_to_jvm[] = {
 #else
 # define JVM_FILE "libjvm." COB_MODULE_EXT
 	"/lib/server",
+	"/jre/lib/server",
+	"/jre/lib/" COB_JAVA_ARCH "/server",
 	"/lib/client",
+	"/jre/lib/client",
+	"/jre/lib/" COB_JAVA_ARCH "/client",
 #endif
 	NULL,
 };
@@ -2040,13 +2045,14 @@ init_jvm_search_dirs (void) {
 		break;
 #else
 		/* Append to search path. */
+		int success;
 # warning On some systems, JAVA_HOME-based lookup via `libltdl` does not work
 		if (snprintf (jvm_path, (size_t)COB_FILE_MAX, "%s%s",
 			      java_home, path_suffix) == 0) {
 			continue;
 		}
 		DEBUG_LOG ("call", ("appending '%s' to load path: ", jvm_path));
-		int success = lt_dladdsearchdir (jvm_path);
+		success = lt_dladdsearchdir (jvm_path);
 		DEBUG_LOG ("call", ("%s\n", success == 0 ? "success" : "failed"));
 #endif
 	}
@@ -2092,6 +2098,8 @@ cob_init_java (void) {
 	return 0;
 }
 
+#endif	/* WITH_JNI */
+
 cob_java_handle*
 cob_resolve_java (const char *class_name,
 		  const char *method_name,
diff --git a/libcob/coblocal.h b/libcob/coblocal.h
index d3f5351d..71be6fcd 100644
--- a/libcob/coblocal.h
+++ b/libcob/coblocal.h
@@ -480,8 +480,6 @@ COB_HIDDEN void		cob_runtime_warning_ss (const char *, const char *);
 COB_EXPIMP int cob_ncase_cmp (char *, const char *, unsigned );
 COB_EXPIMP char * cob_str_case_str (char *, const char *);
 
-COB_EXPIMP int		cob_jni_init (cob_java_api *api);
-
 /* static inline of smaller helpers */
 
 static COB_INLINE int
diff --git a/libcob/java.c b/libcob/java.c
index 34e70101..026d440c 100644
--- a/libcob/java.c
+++ b/libcob/java.c
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@
 
 /* Force symbol exports */
 #define	COB_LIB_EXPIMP
+#include "config.h"
 #include "common.h"
-#include "libcob.h"
 #include "coblocal.h"
 
 /* Declarations */
@@ -38,32 +38,29 @@ typedef struct __cob_java_static_method {
 	jmethodID	mid;
 } cob_java_handle;
 
+/* Only exported symbol: */
+int		cob_jni_init (cob_java_api *api);
+
 static int			/* non-zero means there's an error */
 jvm_load (void) {
 	/* JDK/JRE 6 VM initialization arguments */
-	JavaVMInitArgs args;
-	JavaVMOption* options = { 0, };
-	const char *classpath;
-	size_t option_len;
-	char option_buffer[COB_NORMAL_BUFF];
+	JavaVMInitArgs	args;
+	JavaVMOption	options[1];
+	const char	*classpath;
+	char		cp_buffer[COB_MEDIUM_BUFF];
 
 	args.version = JNI_VERSION_1_6;
-	classpath = getenv ("CLASSPATH");
-	if (classpath == NULL) {
-		classpath = "";
-	}
-	args.nOptions = 1;
-	option_len = strlen("-Djava.class.path=") + strlen(classpath) + 1;
-	if (option_len > sizeof(option_buffer)) {
-		return -1;
-	}
-	strcpy(option_buffer, "-Djava.class.path=");
-	strcat(option_buffer, classpath);
-	options[0].optionString = option_buffer;
 	args.options = options;
-	args.ignoreUnrecognized = 1;
-	/* loading and initializing a Java VM, returning as JNI interface */
-	return JNI_CreateJavaVM(&jvm, (void**)&env, &args);
+	args.nOptions = 0;
+	args.ignoreUnrecognized = JNI_FALSE;
+
+	if ((classpath = getenv ("CLASSPATH")) != NULL) {
+		snprintf (cp_buffer, COB_MEDIUM_MAX,
+			  "-Djava.class.path=%s", classpath);
+		options[args.nOptions++].optionString = cp_buffer;
+	}
+
+	return JNI_CreateJavaVM (&jvm, (void**)&env, &args);
 }
 
 static
diff --git a/tests/testsuite.src/run_java.at b/tests/testsuite.src/run_java.at
index 8c9a7603..19438255 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite.src/run_java.at
+++ b/tests/testsuite.src/run_java.at
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ public class Test {
    }
 }
 ])
+
 AT_DATA([prog.cob], [
        IDENTIFICATION   DIVISION.
        PROGRAM-ID.      prog.
@@ -47,25 +48,7 @@ AT_CHECK([$JAVAC Test.java], [0], [], [])
 AT_CHECK([$COMPILE prog.cob], [0], [], [])
 AT_CHECK([$COBCRUN_DIRECT ./prog], [0],
 [Hello world!
-])
-AT_CLEANUP
-
-
-AT_SETUP([CALL Java with malformed method name])
-AT_KEYWORDS([extensions jni malformed])
-
-AT_SKIP_IF([test "$COB_HAS_JNI" = "no"])
-
-AT_DATA([prog.cob], [
-       IDENTIFICATION   DIVISION.
-       PROGRAM-ID.      prog.
-       PROCEDURE        DIVISION.
-           CALL "Java.InvalidName"
-           STOP RUN.
-])
-
-AT_CHECK([$COMPILE prog.cob], [1], [],
-[prog.cob:5: error: malformed Java method name 'Java.InvalidName', expected format 'Java.ClassName.methodName'
+Java call worked
 ])
 AT_CLEANUP
 
@@ -114,6 +97,7 @@ AT_CHECK([$COBCRUN_DIRECT ./prog], [1], [],
 ])
 AT_CLEANUP
 
+
 AT_SETUP([CALL Java static void (void) (missing class with ON EXCEPTION)])
 AT_KEYWORDS([extensions jni exception])
 
@@ -133,11 +117,13 @@ AT_CHECK([$COBCRUN_DIRECT ./prog], [0], [], [java call not successful
 ])
 AT_CLEANUP
 
+
 AT_SETUP([CALL Java static void (void) in a package])
 AT_KEYWORDS([extensions jni package])
 
 AT_SKIP_IF([test "$COB_HAS_JNI" = "no"])
 
+AT_CHECK([mkdir -p testpackage])
 AT_DATA([testpackage/Test.java], [
 package testpackage;
 public class Test {
@@ -158,7 +144,6 @@ AT_DATA([prog.cob], [
            STOP RUN.
 ])
 
-AT_CHECK([mkdir -p testpackage])
 AT_CHECK([$JAVAC testpackage/Test.java], [0], [], [])
 AT_CHECK([$COMPILE prog.cob], [0], [], [])
 AT_CHECK([$COBCRUN_DIRECT ./prog], [0],
@@ -166,4 +151,4 @@ AT_CHECK([$COBCRUN_DIRECT ./prog], [0],
 Java call to package class worked
 ])
 
-AT_CLEANUP
\ No newline at end of file
+AT_CLEANUP
diff --git a/tests/testsuite.src/syn_misc.at b/tests/testsuite.src/syn_misc.at
index 7ab38951..60c9db68 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite.src/syn_misc.at
+++ b/tests/testsuite.src/syn_misc.at
@@ -9531,3 +9531,19 @@ pgm1.cob:18: error: start of statement in Area A
 
 AT_CLEANUP
 
+
+AT_SETUP([CALL Java with malformed method name])
+AT_KEYWORDS([extensions jni malformed])
+
+AT_DATA([prog.cob], [
+       IDENTIFICATION   DIVISION.
+       PROGRAM-ID.      prog.
+       PROCEDURE        DIVISION.
+           CALL "Java.InvalidName"
+           STOP RUN.
+])
+
+AT_CHECK([$COMPILE prog.cob], [1], [],
+[prog.cob:5: error: malformed Java method name 'Java.InvalidName', expected format 'Java.ClassName.methodName'
+])
+AT_CLEANUP