diff --git a/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchConfigurationMessages.properties b/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchConfigurationMessages.properties
index cf56188..be9678b 100644
--- a/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchConfigurationMessages.properties
+++ b/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchConfigurationMessages.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ###############################################################################
-# Copyright (c) 2000, 2015 IBM Corporation and others.
+# Copyright (c) 2000, 2017 IBM Corporation and others.
 # All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 # are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 # which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 ###############################################################################
 
 AntLaunchDelegate_Launching__0__1=Launching {0}
-AntLaunchDelegate_Launching__0__2=JRE version less than 1.7 is not supported. 
+AntLaunchDelegate_Launching__0__2=JRE version less than 1.8 is not supported. 
 AntLaunchDelegate_Running__0__2=Running {0}
 AntLaunchDelegate_Build_In_Progress=Ant build {0} already in progress. Concurrent Ant builds are possible if you specify to build in a separate JRE.
 AntLaunchDelegate_Failure=Failure of Background Ant Build
diff --git a/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchDelegate.java b/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchDelegate.java
index 1891988..507e628 100644
--- a/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchDelegate.java
+++ b/ant/org.eclipse.ant.launching/src/org/eclipse/ant/internal/launching/launchConfigurations/AntLaunchDelegate.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*******************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2000, 2016 IBM Corporation and others.
+ * Copyright (c) 2000, 2017 IBM Corporation and others.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
 					vmver = vmver.substring(0, 3);
 				}
 				// int ver = (int) (CompilerOptions.versionToJdkLevel(vmver) >>> 16);
-				if (JavaCore.compareJavaVersions(vmver, JavaCore.VERSION_1_7) < 0) {
+				if (JavaCore.compareJavaVersions(vmver, JavaCore.VERSION_1_8) < 0) {
 					boolean useDefault = configuration.getAttribute(IJavaLaunchConfigurationConstants.ATTR_DEFAULT_CLASSPATH, true);
 					if (useDefault) { // Java 1.7 and above is required if Default Ant Home is used
 						IStatus status = new Status(IStatus.ERROR, AntLaunching.PLUGIN_ID, 1, AntLaunchConfigurationMessages.AntLaunchDelegate_Launching__0__2, null);