diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index c49d36b70..8e7510a84 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -161,6 +161,11 @@ Other changes:
 
 * New "pattern" attribute for <date> selector.
 
+* <junit> has a new forkmode attribute that controls the number of
+  Java VMs that get created when forking tests.  This allows you to
+  run all tests in a single forked JVM reducing the overhead of VM
+  creation a lot.  Bugzilla Report 24697.
+
 Changes from Ant 1.6.0 to Ant 1.6.1
 =============================================
 
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index f57584416..7e8e1c2ff 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
   <property name="junit.filtertrace" value="off"/>
   <property name="junit.summary" value="no"/>
   <property name="test.haltonfailure" value="yes" />
-  <property name="junit.forkstyle" value="once"/>
+  <property name="junit.forkmode" value="once"/>
   <property name="unfiltered.files" value="**/*.gif,**/*.jpg,**/*.ico,**/*.pdf,**/*.zip"/>
 
   <!--
@@ -1429,7 +1429,7 @@
 
     <junit printsummary="${junit.summary}" haltonfailure="${test.haltonfailure}"
            filtertrace="${junit.filtertrace}"
-           fork="${junit.fork}" forkstyle="${junit.forkstyle}"
+           fork="${junit.fork}" forkmode="${junit.forkmode}"
            failureproperty="tests.failed">
 <!--      <jvmarg value="-classic"/> -->
       <classpath refid="tests-classpath"/>
diff --git a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/junit.html b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/junit.html
index 0fcf47e74..9c78bfaee 100644
--- a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/junit.html
+++ b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/junit.html
@@ -67,6 +67,24 @@ elements</a>).</p>
     <td valign="top">Run the tests in a separate VM.</td>
     <td align="center" valign="top">No; default is <code>off</code>.</td>
   </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">forkmode</td>
+    <td valign="top">Controls how many Java Virtual Machines get
+    created if you want to fork some tests.  Possible values are
+    &quot;perTest&quot; (the default), &quot;perBatch&quot; and
+    &quot;once&quot;.  &quot;once&quot; creates only a single Java VM
+    for all tests while &quot;perTest&quot; creates a new VM for each
+    TestCase class.  &quot;perBatch&quot; creates a VM for each nested
+    <code>&lt;batchtest&gt;</code> and one collecting all nested
+    <code>&lt;test&gt;</code>s.  Note that only tests with the same
+    settings of <code>filtertrace</code>, <code>haltonerror</code>,
+    <code>haltonfailure</code>, <code>errorproperty</code> and
+    <code>failureproperty</code> can share a VM, so even if you set
+    <code>forkmode</code> to &quot;once&quot;, Ant may have to create
+    more than a single Java VM.  This attribute is ignored for tests
+    that don't get forked into a new Java VM.</td>
+    <td align="center" valign="top">No; default is <code>perTest</code>.</td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">haltonerror</td>
     <td valign="top">Stop the build process if an error occurs during the test
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java
index 005b4acb3..5b44f149a 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/junit/JUnitTask.java
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ public class JUnitTask extends Task {
     private File tmpDir;
     private AntClassLoader classLoader = null;
     private Permissions perm = null;
-    private ForkStyle forkStyle = new ForkStyle("perTest");
+    private ForkMode forkMode = new ForkMode("perTest");
 
     private static final int STRING_BUFFER_SIZE = 128;
 
@@ -295,8 +295,8 @@ public class JUnitTask extends Task {
      *
      * @since Ant 1.6.2
      */
-    public void setForkStyle(ForkStyle style) {
-        this.forkStyle = style;
+    public void setForkMode(ForkMode mode) {
+        this.forkMode = mode;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -641,11 +641,11 @@ public class JUnitTask extends Task {
     public void execute() throws BuildException {
         List testLists = new ArrayList();
 
-        boolean forkPerTest = forkStyle.getValue().equals(ForkStyle.PER_TEST);
-        if (forkPerTest || forkStyle.getValue().equals(ForkStyle.ONCE)) {
+        boolean forkPerTest = forkMode.getValue().equals(ForkMode.PER_TEST);
+        if (forkPerTest || forkMode.getValue().equals(ForkMode.ONCE)) {
             testLists.addAll(executeOrQueue(getIndividualTests(),
                                             forkPerTest));
-        } else { /* forkStyle.getValue().equals(ForkStyle.PER_BATCH) */
+        } else { /* forkMode.getValue().equals(ForkMode.PER_BATCH) */
             final int count = batchTests.size();
             for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
                 BatchTest batchtest = (BatchTest) batchTests.elementAt(i);
@@ -1379,7 +1379,7 @@ public class JUnitTask extends Task {
      * These are the different forking options
      * @since 1.6.2
      */
-    public static final class ForkStyle extends EnumeratedAttribute {
+    public static final class ForkMode extends EnumeratedAttribute {
 
         /**
          * fork once only
@@ -1394,11 +1394,11 @@ public class JUnitTask extends Task {
          */
         public static final String PER_BATCH = "perBatch";
 
-        public ForkStyle() {
+        public ForkMode() {
             super();
         }
 
-        public ForkStyle(String value) {
+        public ForkMode(String value) {
             super();
             setValue(value);
         }