diff --git a/gradle/java-publish.gradle b/gradle/java-publish.gradle
index 68b9407c45..430f149ae5 100644
--- a/gradle/java-publish.gradle
+++ b/gradle/java-publish.gradle
@@ -15,10 +15,7 @@ task sourcesJar(type: Jar) {
 // Thus, no javadoc warnings.
 javadoc {
 	options.addStringOption('Xdoclint:none', '-quiet')
-	// disable javadoc on 11
-	if (org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.current().compareTo(org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.VERSION_1_9) >= 0) {
-		enabled = false
-	}
+	enabled = org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.current() == org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
 }
 
 // use markdown in javadoc
diff --git a/gradle/java-setup.gradle b/gradle/java-setup.gradle
index e4fc954c39..c3f3c167eb 100644
--- a/gradle/java-setup.gradle
+++ b/gradle/java-setup.gradle
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ spotbugs {
 // HTML instead of XML
 tasks.withType(spotBugsTaskType()) {
 	// only run on Java 8 (no benefit to running twice)
-	enabled = System.getProperty("java.version").startsWith('1.8.')
+	enabled = org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.current() == org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
 	reports {
 		xml.enabled = false
 		html.enabled = true