diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java
index b7aae3372..163a2b2a1 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/JavaEnvUtils.java
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ public class JavaEnvUtils {
             Class.forName("java.lang.CharSequence");
             javaVersion = JAVA_1_4;
             javaVersionNumber++;
-        } catch (ClassNotFoundException cnfe) {
+        } catch (Throwable t) {
             // swallow as we've hit the max class version that
             // we have
         }