diff --git a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/javadoc/javadoc.xml b/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/javadoc/javadoc.xml
index 4d6160f9d..74f43f7b1 100755
--- a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/javadoc/javadoc.xml
+++ b/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/javadoc/javadoc.xml
@@ -19,17 +19,22 @@
   <path id="path.dirset">
     <dirset dir="." />
   </path>
+  <property name="javadoc" location="javadoc"/>
+
+  <target name="tearDown">
+    <delete dir="${javadoc}" quiet="true"/>
+  </target>
 
   <target name="dirsetPath">
-    <javadoc sourcepathref="path.dirset" packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc" />
+    <javadoc sourcepathref="path.dirset" packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}" />
   </target>
 
   <target name="dirsetPathWithoutPackagenames">
-    <javadoc sourcepathref="path.dirset" destdir="javadoc" />
+    <javadoc sourcepathref="path.dirset" destdir="${javadoc}" />
   </target>
 
   <target name="nestedDirsetPath">
-    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}">
       <sourcepath refid="path.dirset" />
     </javadoc>
   </target>
@@ -42,29 +47,29 @@
   </path>
 
   <target name="filesetPath">
-    <javadoc sourcepathref="path.fileset" packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc" />
+    <javadoc sourcepathref="path.fileset" packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}" />
   </target>
 
   <target name="nestedFilesetPath">
-    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}">
       <sourcepath refid="path.fileset" />
     </javadoc>
   </target>
 
   <target name="nestedFilesetRefInPath">
-    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}">
       <fileset refid="fileset.inpath" />
     </javadoc>
   </target>
 
   <target name="nestedFilesetNoPatterns">
-    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}">
       <fileset dir="java/"/>
     </javadoc>
   </target>
 
   <target name="doublyNestedFileset">
-    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}">
       <sourcefiles>
         <fileset dir="java/" includes="**/*.java"/>
       </sourcefiles>
@@ -72,7 +77,7 @@
   </target>
 
   <target name="doublyNestedFilesetNoPatterns">
-    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}">
       <sourcefiles>
         <fileset dir="java/"/>
       </sourcefiles>
@@ -88,22 +93,25 @@
 
   <target name="filelistPath">
     <javadoc sourcepathref="path.filelist" packagenames="*"
-      destdir="javadoc" />
+      destdir="${javadoc}" />
   </target>
 
   <target name="nestedFilelistPath">
-    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}">
       <sourcepath refid="path.filelist" />
     </javadoc>
   </target>
 
+  <!-- this property is set when the tests are run using ant's build.xml -->
+  <property name="root" location="../../../../.."/>
+
   <path id="path.pathelement.path">
     <pathelement path="${root}/src" />
   </path>
 
   <target name="pathelementPath">
     <javadoc sourcepathref="path.pathelement.path"
-      packagenames="etc.testcases.taskdefs.javadoc.*" destdir="javadoc" />
+      packagenames="etc.testcases.taskdefs.javadoc.*" destdir="${javadoc}" />
   </target>
 
   <path id="path.pathelement.location">
@@ -113,11 +121,11 @@
 
   <target name="pathelementLocationPath">
     <javadoc sourcepathref="path.pathelement.location"
-      packagenames="*" destdir="javadoc" />
+      packagenames="*" destdir="${javadoc}" />
   </target>
 
   <target name="nestedSource">
-    <javadoc destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc destdir="${javadoc}">
       <source file="java/ClassToJavadoc.java" />
     </javadoc>
   </target>
@@ -127,7 +135,7 @@
   </fileset>
 
   <target name="nestedFilesetRef">
-    <javadoc destdir="javadoc">
+    <javadoc destdir="${javadoc}">
       <fileset refid="fileset.simple" />
     </javadoc>
   </target>
diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/JavadocTest.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/JavadocTest.java
index f27f80b5e..72360dbe4 100755
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/JavadocTest.java
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/JavadocTest.java
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ public class JavadocTest extends BuildFileTest {
         configureProject(BUILD_FILE);
     }
 
+    protected void tearDown() {
+        getProject().executeTarget("tearDown");
+    }
     // PR 38370
     public void testDirsetPath() throws Exception {
         executeTarget("dirsetPath");