diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 85df53a36..e1593c771 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Usage: sbt [options]
   -sbt-dir   <path>  path to global settings/plugins directory (default: ~/.sbt)
   -sbt-boot  <path>  path to shared boot directory (default: ~/.sbt/boot in 0.11 series)
   -ivy       <path>  path to local Ivy repository (default: ~/.ivy2)
-  -mem    <integer>  set memory options (default: 1024, which is -Xms1024m -Xmx1024m -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=128m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=256m)
+  -mem    <integer>  set memory options (default: 1024, which is -Xms1024m -Xmx1024m -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=128m)
   -no-share          use all local caches; no sharing
   -no-global         uses global caches, but does not use global ~/.sbt directory.
   -jvm-debug <port>  Turn on JVM debugging, open at the given port.
diff --git a/src/universal/bin/sbt b/src/universal/bin/sbt
index 1a4e02524..d9c2efc79 100755
--- a/src/universal/bin/sbt
+++ b/src/universal/bin/sbt
@@ -144,13 +144,13 @@ addMemory () {
   if [[ -z $java_version ]]; then
       java_version=$(jdk_version)
   fi
-  local class_metadata_opt=$((( $java_version < 8 )) && echo "MaxPermSize" || echo "MaxMetaspaceSize")
+  local class_metadata_opt="MaxPermSize"
 
   addJava "-Xms${mem}m"
   addJava "-Xmx${mem}m"
   addJava "-Xss2M"
   addJava "-XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=${codecache}m"
-  if [[ (( $java_version > 7 )) ]]; then
+  if [[ (( $java_version < 8 )) ]]; then
     addJava "-XX:${class_metadata_opt}=${class_metadata_size}m"
   fi
 }