diff --git a/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/DiagnosticsReporter.scala b/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/DiagnosticsReporter.scala
index bb1b144e6..40958d36f 100644
--- a/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/DiagnosticsReporter.scala
+++ b/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/DiagnosticsReporter.scala
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ import javax.tools.Diagnostic.NOPOS
 final class DiagnosticsReporter(reporter: Reporter) extends DiagnosticListener[JavaFileObject] {
   val END_OF_LINE_MATCHER = "(\r\n)|[\r]|[\n]"
   val EOL = System.getProperty("line.separator")
+
+  private[this] var errorEncountered = false
+  def hasErrors: Boolean = errorEncountered
+
   private def fixedDiagnosticMessage(d: Diagnostic[_ <: JavaFileObject]): String = {
     def getRawMessage = d.getMessage(null)
     def fixWarnOrErrorMessage = {
@@ -110,6 +114,7 @@ final class DiagnosticsReporter(reporter: Reporter) extends DiagnosticListener[J
           if (sourceUri.isDefined) s"${sourceUri.get}:${if (line.isDefined) line.get else -1}"
           else ""
       }
+    if (severity == Severity.Error) errorEncountered = true
     reporter.log(pos, msg, severity)
   }
 }
diff --git a/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/LocalJava.scala b/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/LocalJava.scala
index 81f4e1293..9b6811151 100644
--- a/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/LocalJava.scala
+++ b/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/javac/LocalJava.scala
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ final class LocalJavaCompiler(compiler: javax.tools.JavaCompiler) extends JavaCo
     val diagnostics = new DiagnosticsReporter(reporter)
     val fileManager = compiler.getStandardFileManager(diagnostics, null, null)
     val jfiles = fileManager.getJavaFileObjectsFromFiles(sources.asJava)
-    compiler.getTask(logWriter, fileManager, diagnostics, options.asJava, null, jfiles).call()
+    val success = compiler.getTask(logWriter, fileManager, diagnostics, options.asJava, null, jfiles).call()
+    // The local compiler may report a successful compilation even though there are errors (e.g. encoding problems in the
+    // source files). In a similar situation, command line javac reports a failed compilation. To have the local java compiler
+    // stick to javac's behavior, we report a failed compilation if there have been errors.
+    success && !diagnostics.hasErrors
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/notes/0.13.10/local-java-report-errors.md b/notes/0.13.10/local-java-report-errors.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c36fb710
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notes/0.13.10/local-java-report-errors.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+
+  [@Duhemm]: http://github.com/Duhemm
+  [2228]: https://github.com/sbt/sbt/issues/2228
+  [2271]: https://github.com/sbt/sbt/pull/2271
+
+### Fixes with compatibility implications
+
+### Improvements
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+- Report java compilation as failed if the local java compiler reported compilation errors (issue [#2228][2228]) [#2271][2271] by [@Duhemm][@Duhemm]