diff --git a/compile/persist/src/main/scala/sbt/inc/Base64.scala b/compile/persist/src/main/scala/sbt/inc/Base64.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..21001a2a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compile/persist/src/main/scala/sbt/inc/Base64.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package sbt
+package inc
+
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
+import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter
+
+private[sbt] trait Base64 {
+  def encode(bytes: Array[Byte]): String
+
+  def decode(string: String): Array[Byte]
+}
+
+private[sbt] object Base64 {
+  lazy val factory: () => Base64 = {
+    try {
+      new Java678Encoder().encode(Array[Byte]())
+      () => new Java678Encoder()
+    } catch {
+      case _: LinkageError =>
+        () => new Java89Encoder
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+private[sbt] class Java678Encoder extends Base64 {
+  def encode(bytes: Array[Byte]): String = DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(bytes)
+
+  def decode(string: String): Array[Byte] = DatatypeConverter.parseBase64Binary(string)
+}
+
+private[sbt] object Java89Encoder {
+
+  import scala.runtime.ScalaRunTime.ensureAccessible
+
+  private val Base64_class = Class.forName("java.util.Base64")
+  private val Base64_getEncoder = ensureAccessible(Base64_class.getMethod("getEncoder"))
+  private val Base64_getDecoder = ensureAccessible(Base64_class.getMethod("getEncoder"))
+  private val Base64_Encoder_class = Class.forName("java.util.Base64$Encoder")
+  private val Base64_Decoder_class = Class.forName("java.util.Base64$Decoder")
+  private val Base64_Encoder_encodeToString = ensureAccessible(Base64_Encoder_class.getMethod("encodeToString", classOf[Array[Byte]]))
+  private val Base64_Decoder_decode = ensureAccessible(Base64_Decoder_class.getMethod("decode", classOf[String]))
+}
+
+private[sbt] class Java89Encoder extends Base64 {
+
+  import Java89Encoder._
+
+  def encode(bytes: Array[Byte]): String = try {
+    val encoder = Base64_getEncoder.invoke(null)
+    Base64_Encoder_encodeToString.invoke(encoder, bytes).asInstanceOf[String]
+  } catch {
+    case ex: InvocationTargetException => throw ex.getCause
+  }
+
+  def decode(string: String): Array[Byte] = try {
+    val decoder = Base64_getDecoder.invoke(null)
+    Base64_Decoder_decode.invoke(decoder, string).asInstanceOf[Array[Byte]]
+  } catch {
+    case ex: InvocationTargetException => throw ex.getCause
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compile/persist/src/main/scala/sbt/inc/TextAnalysisFormat.scala b/compile/persist/src/main/scala/sbt/inc/TextAnalysisFormat.scala
index 74221a9c6..a03edcce4 100644
--- a/compile/persist/src/main/scala/sbt/inc/TextAnalysisFormat.scala
+++ b/compile/persist/src/main/scala/sbt/inc/TextAnalysisFormat.scala
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import java.io._
 import sbt.{ CompileSetup, Relation }
 import xsbti.api.{ Compilation, Source }
 import xsbti.compile.{ MultipleOutput, SingleOutput }
-import javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter
 
 // Very simple timer for timing repeated code sections.
 // TODO: Temporary. Remove once we've milked all available performance gains.
@@ -328,11 +327,11 @@ object TextAnalysisFormat {
       val out = new sbinary.JavaOutput(baos)
       FormatTimer.aggregate("sbinary write") { try { fmt.writes(out, o) } finally { baos.close() } }
       val bytes = FormatTimer.aggregate("byte copy") { baos.toByteArray }
-      FormatTimer.aggregate("bytes -> base64") { DatatypeConverter.printBase64Binary(bytes) }
+      FormatTimer.aggregate("bytes -> base64") { Base64.factory().encode(bytes) }
     }
 
     def stringToObj[T](s: String)(implicit fmt: sbinary.Format[T]) = {
-      val bytes = FormatTimer.aggregate("base64 -> bytes") { DatatypeConverter.parseBase64Binary(s) }
+      val bytes = FormatTimer.aggregate("base64 -> bytes") { Base64.factory().decode(s) }
       val in = new sbinary.JavaInput(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes))
       FormatTimer.aggregate("sbinary read") { fmt.reads(in) }
     }
diff --git a/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/CompilerArguments.scala b/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/CompilerArguments.scala
index 295bae5bb..df279bb37 100644
--- a/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/CompilerArguments.scala
+++ b/compile/src/main/scala/sbt/compiler/CompilerArguments.scala
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ final class CompilerArguments(scalaInstance: xsbti.compile.ScalaInstance, cp: xs
   def bootClasspathFor(classpath: Seq[File]) = bootClasspath(hasLibrary(classpath))
 
   import Path._
-  def extClasspath: Seq[File] = (IO.parseClasspath(System.getProperty("java.ext.dirs")) * "*.jar").get
+  def extClasspath: Seq[File] = (IO.parseClasspath(System.getProperty("java.ext.dirs", "")) * "*.jar").get
 }
 object CompilerArguments {
   val BootClasspathOption = "-bootclasspath"