diff --git a/java/java.go b/java/java.go
index b4ed207..2298acc 100644
--- a/java/java.go
+++ b/java/java.go
@@ -301,6 +301,9 @@
 	var flags javaBuilderFlags
 
 	javacFlags := j.properties.Javacflags
+	if ctx.AConfig().Getenv("EXPERIMENTAL_USE_OPENJDK9") == "" {
+		javacFlags = config.StripJavac9Flags(javacFlags)
+	}
 
 	if len(deps.annotationProcessors) > 0 {
 		javacFlags = append(javacFlags,