diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java
index 38197b8df..c0f926d4c 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java
@@ -27,8 +27,13 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.Vector;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
+import java.util.Collection;
 
 import org.apache.tools.ant.property.NullReturn;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.property.GetProperty;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.property.ParseNextProperty;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.property.PropertyExpander;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.property.ParseProperties;
 
 /* ISSUES:
  - ns param. It could be used to provide "namespaces" for properties, which
@@ -60,7 +65,7 @@ import org.apache.tools.ant.property.NullReturn;
  *
  * @since Ant 1.6
  */
-public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
+public class PropertyHelper implements GetProperty {
 
     //  --------------------------------------------------------
     //
@@ -89,22 +94,6 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
         Object evaluate(String property, PropertyHelper propertyHelper);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Describes an entity capable of expanding properties embedded in a string.
-     * @since Ant 1.8
-     */
-    public interface PropertyExpander extends Delegate {
-        /**
-         * Parse the next property name.
-         * @param s the String to parse.
-         * @param pos the ParsePosition in use.
-         * @param propertyHelper the invoking PropertyHelper.
-         * @return parsed String if any, else <code>null</code>.
-         */
-        String parsePropertyName(
-            String s, ParsePosition pos, PropertyHelper propertyHelper);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Describes an entity capable of setting a property to a value.
      * @since Ant 1.8
@@ -151,7 +140,7 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
 
     private static final PropertyExpander DEFAULT_EXPANDER = new PropertyExpander() {
         public String parsePropertyName(
-            String s, ParsePosition pos, PropertyHelper propertyHelper) {
+            String s, ParsePosition pos, ParseNextProperty notUsed) {
             int index = pos.getIndex();
             if (s.indexOf("${", index) == index) {
                 int end = s.indexOf('}', index);
@@ -176,7 +165,8 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
              */
             // CheckStyle:LineLengthCheck ON
             public String parsePropertyName(
-                String s, ParsePosition pos, PropertyHelper propertyHelper) {
+                String s, ParsePosition pos, ParseNextProperty notUsed) {
+                //System.out.println("parseproperty " + s);
                 int index = pos.getIndex();
                 if (s.indexOf("$$", index) == index) {
                     pos.setIndex(++index);
@@ -331,6 +321,15 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
         return helper;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the expanders.
+     * @return the exapanders.
+     */
+    public Collection getExpanders() {
+        return getDelegates(PropertyExpander.class);
+    }
+
+
     // --------------------  Methods to override  --------------------
 
     /**
@@ -483,31 +482,8 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
      *         <code>null</code> if the original string is <code>null</code>.
      */
     public Object parseProperties(String value) throws BuildException {
-        if (value == null || "".equals(value)) {
-            return value;
-        }
-        ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0);
-        Object o = parseNextProperty(value, pos);
-        if (o != null && pos.getIndex() == value.length()) {
-            return o;
-        }
-        StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer(value.length() * 2);
-        if (o == null) {
-            sb.append(value.charAt(pos.getIndex()));
-            pos.setIndex(pos.getIndex() + 1);
-        } else {
-            sb.append(o);
-        }
-        while (pos.getIndex() < value.length()) {
-            o = parseNextProperty(value, pos);
-            if (o == null) {
-                sb.append(value.charAt(pos.getIndex()));
-                pos.setIndex(pos.getIndex() + 1);
-            } else {
-                sb.append(o);
-            }
-        }
-        return sb.toString();
+        return new ParseProperties(getProject(), getExpanders(), this)
+            .parseProperties(value);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -516,50 +492,8 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
      * @return <code>true</code> if <code>value</code> contains property notation.
      */
     public boolean containsProperties(String value) {
-        if (value == null) {
-            return false;
-        }
-        for (ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0); pos.getIndex() < value.length();) {
-            if (parsePropertyName(value, pos) != null) {
-                return true;
-            }
-            pos.setIndex(pos.getIndex() + 1);
-        }
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Return any property that can be parsed from the specified position in the specified String.
-     * @param value String to parse
-     * @param pos ParsePosition
-     * @return Object or null if no property is at the current location.
-     */
-    public Object parseNextProperty(String value, ParsePosition pos) {
-        int start = pos.getIndex();
-        String propertyName = parsePropertyName(value, pos);
-        if (propertyName != null) {
-            Object result = getProperty(propertyName);
-            if (result != null) {
-                return result;
-            }
-            getProject().log("Property \"" + propertyName
-                    + "\" has not been set", Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
-            return value.substring(start, pos.getIndex());
-        }
-        return null;
-    }
-
-    private String parsePropertyName(String value, ParsePosition pos) {
-        for (Iterator iter = getDelegates(PropertyExpander.class).iterator();
-             iter.hasNext();) {
-            String propertyName = ((PropertyExpander) iter.next())
-                .parsePropertyName(value, pos, this);
-            if (propertyName == null) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            return propertyName;
-        }
-        return null;
+        return new ParseProperties(getProject(), getExpanders(), this)
+            .containsProperties(value);
     }
 
     // -------------------- Default implementation  --------------------
@@ -1062,22 +996,4 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements Cloneable {
         return result;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Make a clone of this PropertyHelper.
-     * @return the cloned PropertyHelper.
-     * @since Ant 1.8
-     */
-    public synchronized Object clone() {
-        PropertyHelper result;
-        try {
-            result = (PropertyHelper) super.clone();
-            result.delegates = (Hashtable) delegates.clone();
-            result.properties = (Hashtable) properties.clone();
-            result.userProperties = (Hashtable) userProperties.clone();
-            result.inheritedProperties = (Hashtable) inheritedProperties.clone();
-        } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {
-            throw new BuildException(e);
-        }
-        return result;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/GetProperty.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/GetProperty.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ca2baa12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/GetProperty.java
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+package org.apache.tools.ant.property;
+
+/** Interface to a class (normally PropertyHelper) to get a property */
+public interface GetProperty {
+    /**
+     * Returns the value of a property if it is set.
+     * @param name name of the property.
+     * @return the property value, or null for no match or for name being null.
+     */
+    Object getProperty(String name);
+}
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ParseNextProperty.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ParseNextProperty.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..72dda73e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ParseNextProperty.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+package org.apache.tools.ant.property;
+
+import java.text.ParsePosition;
+
+import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;
+
+/** Interface to parse a property */
+public interface ParseNextProperty {
+    /**
+     * Get the current project.
+     * @return the current ant project.
+     */
+    Project getProject();
+
+    /**
+     * Return any property that can be parsed from the specified position
+     * in the specified String.
+     * @param value String to parse
+     * @param pos ParsePosition
+     * @return Object or null if no property is at the current location.
+     */
+    Object parseNextProperty(String value, ParsePosition pos);
+}
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ParseProperties.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ParseProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..afb258696
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ParseProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+package org.apache.tools.ant.property;
+
+import java.text.ParsePosition;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;
+
+/**
+ * Parse properties using a collection of expanders.
+ */
+public class ParseProperties implements ParseNextProperty {
+
+    private final Project project;
+    private final GetProperty getProperty;
+    private final Collection expanders;
+
+    /**
+     * Constructor with a getProperty.
+     * @param project the current ant project.
+     * @param expanders a sequence of exapanders
+     * @param getProperty property resolver.
+     */
+    public ParseProperties(
+        Project project, Collection expanders, GetProperty getProperty) {
+        this.project = project;
+        this.expanders = expanders;
+        this.getProperty = getProperty;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the project.
+     * @return the current ant project.
+     */
+    public Project getProject() {
+        return project;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Decode properties from a String representation.  If the entire
+     * contents of the String resolve to a single property, that value
+     * is returned.  Otherwise a String is returned.
+     *
+     * @param value The string to be scanned for property references.
+     *              May be <code>null</code>, in which case this
+     *              method returns immediately with no effect.
+     *
+     * @return the original string with the properties replaced, or
+     *         <code>null</code> if the original string is <code>null</code>.
+     */
+    public Object parseProperties(String value) {
+        if (value == null || "".equals(value) || value.indexOf('$') == -1) {
+            return value;
+        }
+        ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0);
+        Object o = parseNextProperty(value, pos);
+        if (o != null && pos.getIndex() == value.length()) {
+            return o;
+        }
+        StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer(value.length() * 2);
+        if (o == null) {
+            sb.append(value.charAt(pos.getIndex()));
+            pos.setIndex(pos.getIndex() + 1);
+        } else {
+            sb.append(o);
+        }
+        while (pos.getIndex() < value.length()) {
+            o = parseNextProperty(value, pos);
+            if (o == null) {
+                sb.append(value.charAt(pos.getIndex()));
+                pos.setIndex(pos.getIndex() + 1);
+            } else {
+                sb.append(o);
+            }
+        }
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Learn whether a String contains replaceable properties.
+     * @param value the String to check.
+     * @return <code>true</code> if <code>value</code> contains property notation.
+     */
+    public boolean containsProperties(String value) {
+        if (value == null) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        for (ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0); pos.getIndex() < value.length();) {
+            if (parsePropertyName(value, pos) != null) {
+                return true;
+            }
+            pos.setIndex(pos.getIndex() + 1);
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Return any property that can be parsed from the specified position
+     * in the specified String.
+     * @param value String to parse
+     * @param pos ParsePosition
+     * @return Object or null if no property is at the current location.
+     */
+    public Object parseNextProperty(String value, ParsePosition pos) {
+        int start = pos.getIndex();
+        String propertyName = parsePropertyName(value, pos);
+        if (propertyName != null) {
+            Object result = getProperty(propertyName);
+            if (result != null) {
+                return result;
+            }
+            if (project != null) {
+                project.log(
+                    "Property \"" + propertyName
+                    + "\" has not been set", Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
+            }
+            return value.substring(start, pos.getIndex());
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    private String parsePropertyName(String value, ParsePosition pos) {
+        for (Iterator iter = expanders.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
+            String propertyName = ((PropertyExpander) iter.next())
+                .parsePropertyName(value, pos, this);
+            if (propertyName == null) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            return propertyName;
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    private Object getProperty(String propertyName) {
+        return getProperty.getProperty(propertyName);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/PropertyExpander.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/PropertyExpander.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0fe44ee06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/PropertyExpander.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+package org.apache.tools.ant.property;
+
+import org.apache.tools.ant.PropertyHelper;
+
+import java.text.ParsePosition;
+
+/** Interface to a class (normally PropertyHelper) to get a property */
+public interface PropertyExpander extends PropertyHelper.Delegate {
+    /**
+     * Parse the next property name.
+     * @param s the String to parse.
+     * @param pos the ParsePosition in use.
+     * @param parseNextProperty parse next property
+     * @return parsed String if any, else <code>null</code>.
+     */
+    String parsePropertyName(
+        String s, ParsePosition pos, ParseNextProperty parseNextProperty);
+}
+
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ResolvePropertyMap.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ResolvePropertyMap.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ec972425
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/property/ResolvePropertyMap.java
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+package org.apache.tools.ant.property;
+
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Collection;
+
+import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildException;
+
+/**
+ *  Class to resolve properties in a map.
+ */
+public class ResolvePropertyMap implements GetProperty {
+    private final Set       seen = new HashSet();
+    private final ParseProperties parseProperties;
+    private final GetProperty    master;
+    private Map map;
+
+    /**
+     * Constructor with a master getproperty and a collection of expanders.
+     * @param project the current ant project.
+     * @param master the master property holder (usually PropertyHelper)
+     * @param expanders a collection of expanders (usually from PropertyHelper).
+     */
+    public ResolvePropertyMap(
+        Project project, GetProperty master, Collection expanders) {
+        this.master = master;
+        this.parseProperties = new ParseProperties(project, expanders, this);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the value of a property if it is set.
+     * @param name name of the property.
+     * @return the property value, or null for no match or for name being null.
+     */
+    public Object getProperty(String name) {
+        if (seen.contains(name)) {
+            throw new BuildException(
+                "Property " + name + " was circularly " + "defined.");
+        }
+        // Note: the master overrides (even if the name is subsequently
+        //       prefixed)
+        Object masterProperty = master.getProperty(name);
+        if (masterProperty != null) {
+            return masterProperty;
+        }
+        try {
+            seen.add(name);
+            return parseProperties.parseProperties((String) map.get(name));
+        } finally {
+            seen.remove(name);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * The action method - resolves all the properties in a map.
+     * @param map the map to resolve properties in.
+     */
+    public void resolveAllProperties(Map map) {
+        this.map = map; // The map gets used in the getProperty callback
+        for (Iterator i = map.keySet().iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
+            String key = (String) i.next();
+            Object result = getProperty(key);
+            String value = result == null ? "" : result.toString();
+            map.put(key, value);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java
index b50ff76eb..0eb3bb151 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Property.java
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
-import java.util.Stack;
 import java.util.Vector;
 
 import org.apache.tools.ant.BuildException;
@@ -38,6 +37,7 @@ import org.apache.tools.ant.Task;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.types.Path;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.types.Reference;
 import org.apache.tools.ant.util.FileUtils;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.property.ResolvePropertyMap;
 
 /**
  * Sets a property by name, or set of properties (from file or
@@ -73,62 +73,6 @@ import org.apache.tools.ant.util.FileUtils;
  * @ant.task category="property"
  */
 public class Property extends Task {
-    private static class PropertyResolver implements PropertyHelper.PropertyEvaluator {
-        private ThreadLocal getStack = new ThreadLocal() {
-            protected Object initialValue() {
-                return new Stack();
-            }
-        };
-        private ThreadLocal replaceStack = new ThreadLocal() {
-            protected Object initialValue() {
-                return new Stack();
-            }
-        };
-        private Map map;
-
-        /**
-         * Construct a new Property.PropertyResolver instance.
-         */
-        public PropertyResolver(Map map) {
-            this.map = map;
-        }
-
-        // CheckStyle:LineLengthCheck OFF see to long
-        /* (non-Javadoc)
-         * @see org.apache.tools.ant.PropertyHelper.PropertyEvaluator#evaluate(java.lang.String, org.apache.tools.ant.PropertyHelper)
-         */
-        // CheckStyle:LineLengthCheck ON
-        public Object evaluate(String property, PropertyHelper propertyHelper) {
-            //our feeble properties don't matter if the PropertyHelper
-            // can resolve the property without us:
-            Stack stk = (Stack) getStack.get();
-            if (stk.contains(property)) {
-                return null;
-            }
-            stk.push(property);
-            try {
-                if (propertyHelper.getProperty(property) != null) {
-                    return null;
-                }
-            } finally {
-                stk.pop();
-            }
-            Object value = map.get(property);
-            if (!(value instanceof String)) {
-                return null;
-            }
-            stk = (Stack) replaceStack.get();
-            if (stk.contains(property)) {
-                throw new BuildException("Property " + property + " was circularly defined.");
-            }
-            stk.push(property);
-            try {
-                return propertyHelper.replaceProperties((String) value);
-            } finally {
-                stk.pop();
-            }
-        }
-    }
 
     // CheckStyle:VisibilityModifier OFF - bc
     protected String name;
@@ -696,16 +640,12 @@ public class Property extends Task {
      * @param props properties object to resolve
      */
     private void resolveAllProperties(Map props) throws BuildException {
-        PropertyHelper propertyHelper = (PropertyHelper) PropertyHelper.getPropertyHelper(
-                getProject()).clone();
-        propertyHelper.add(new PropertyResolver(props));
-        for (Iterator it = props.keySet().iterator(); it.hasNext();) {
-            Object k = it.next();
-            if (k instanceof String) {
-                Object value = propertyHelper.getProperty((String) k);
-                props.put(k, value);
-            }
-        }
+        PropertyHelper propertyHelper
+            = (PropertyHelper) PropertyHelper.getPropertyHelper(getProject());
+        new ResolvePropertyMap(
+            getProject(),
+            propertyHelper,
+            propertyHelper.getExpanders()).resolveAllProperties(props);
     }
 
 }