diff --git a/build.properties b/build.properties
index 157b7b602a..3ce8424df3 100644
--- a/build.properties
+++ b/build.properties
@@ -131,3 +131,5 @@ javac.version=1.6
 #with-libjstl1.1-java=true
 # Don't compile GettextResource.java, we will use libintl.jar from the gettext-base package
 #with-gettext-base=true
+# Don't compile gnu/getopt classes, we will use libgetopt-java package
+#with-libgetopt-java=true
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index d87ca2c2ef..c8f3fbe281 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -2028,6 +2028,8 @@
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/_MTN" />
             <!-- gettext-base -->
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/core/java/src/gnu/gettext" />
+            <!-- libgetopt-java -->
+            <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/core/java/src/gnu/geopt" />
             <!-- systray4j -->
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/lib" />
             <file name="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/src/net/i2p/apps/systray/SysTrayImpl.java" />
@@ -2097,6 +2099,7 @@
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/Slackware" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/_MTN" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/core/java/src/gnu/gettext" />
+            <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/core/java/src/gnu/geopt" />
             <fileset dir="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/lib" />
             <file name="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/apps/systray/java/src/net/i2p/apps/systray/SysTrayImpl.java" />
             <file name="../i2p-${Extended.Version}/installer/resources/geoip.txt" />
diff --git a/core/java/build.xml b/core/java/build.xml
index 7193c2787b..65d86fe8ff 100644
--- a/core/java/build.xml
+++ b/core/java/build.xml
@@ -22,22 +22,36 @@
     <property name="javac.version" value="1.6" />
 
     <!-- fixups if we're using libintl.jar for GettextResource.java -->
-    <condition property="source.exclude" value="src/gnu/gettext/GettextResource.java" else="" >
+    <condition property="source.exclude1" value="gnu/gettext/GettextResource.java" else="NOTHING" >
         <istrue value="${with-gettext-base}" />
     </condition>
-    <condition property="javac.classpath.mod" value="/usr/share/java/libintl.jar ${javac.classpath}" else="${javac.classpath}" >
+    <condition property="javac.classpath.mod1" value="/usr/share/java/libintl.jar:" else="" >
         <istrue value="${with-gettext-base}" />
     </condition>
+    <!-- fixups if we're using gnu-getopt.jar for gnu/getopt/* -->
+    <condition property="source.exclude2" value="gnu/getopt/**" else="NOTHING" >
+        <istrue value="${with-libgetopt-java}" />
+    </condition>
+    <condition property="javac.classpath.mod2" value="/usr/share/java/gnu-getopt.jar:" else="" >
+        <istrue value="${with-libgetopt-java}" />
+    </condition>
+    <condition property="translation.includes" value="NOTHING" else="gnu/getopt/*.properties" >
+        <istrue value="${with-libgetopt-java}" />
+    </condition>
+    <property name="javac.classpath.mod" value="${javac.classpath.mod1}${javac.classpath.mod2}${javac.classpath}" />
 
     <target name="compile" depends="depend">
         <mkdir dir="./build" />
         <mkdir dir="./build/obj" />
-        <javac srcdir="./src" debug="true" source="${javac.version}" target="${javac.version}" deprecation="on"
+        <!-- sourcepath="" necessary for excludes to work, see ant manual for javac -->
+        <javac sourcepath="" srcdir="./src" debug="true" source="${javac.version}" target="${javac.version}" deprecation="on"
                debuglevel="lines,vars,source"
                includeAntRuntime="false"
-               excludes="${source.exclude}"
                destdir="./build/obj" classpath="${javac.classpath.mod}" >
             <compilerarg line="${javac.compilerargs}" />
+            <include name="**/*.java" />
+            <exclude name="${source.exclude1}" />
+            <exclude name="${source.exclude2}" />
         </javac>
     </target>
 
@@ -61,7 +75,7 @@
         <jar destfile="./build/i2p.jar" >
             <fileset dir="./build/obj" includes="**/*.class" />
             <!-- the getopt translation files -->
-            <fileset dir="src" includes="gnu/getopt/*.properties" />
+            <fileset dir="src" includes="${translation.includes}" />
             <manifest>
                 <attribute name="Implementation-Version" value="${full.version}" />
                 <attribute name="Built-By" value="${build.built-by}" />
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index 15fe37b52a..503e44cf22 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ Build-Depends: debhelper (>= 7.0.50~)
  ,glassfish-javaee
  ,dh-apparmor
  ,gettext
+ ,libgetopt-java
  ,libgmp-dev (>= 2:5.0.5)
  ,libservice-wrapper-java
  ,hardening-wrapper
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ${java:Depends}, ${shlibs:Depends},
  libecj-java,
  geoip-database,
  gettext-base,
+ libgetopt-java,
  libjetty8-java, libservlet3.0-java,
  glassfish-javaee
 Replaces: i2p ( << 0.8.6-5)
diff --git a/debian/i2p-router.links b/debian/i2p-router.links
index 8b88e4ed54..059959bf15 100644
--- a/debian/i2p-router.links
+++ b/debian/i2p-router.links
@@ -84,3 +84,8 @@ usr/share/java/glassfish-appserv-jstl.jar usr/share/i2p/lib/standard.jar
 # comment out if not building with gettext-base
 # ubuntu and debian: everywhere
 usr/share/java/libintl.jar usr/share/i2p/lib/libintl.jar
+
+
+# comment out if not building with libgetopt-java
+# ubuntu and debian: everywhere
+usr/share/java/gnu-getopt.jar usr/share/i2p/lib/gnu-getopt.jar
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index a9180ee245..2bdc23f22c 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -142,6 +142,9 @@ endif
 	@# debian and ubuntu: everywhere
 	@/bin/echo -e "with-gettext-base=true" >> $(CURDIR)/override.properties
 
+	@# debian and ubuntu: everywhere
+	@/bin/echo -e "with-libgetopt-java=true" >> $(CURDIR)/override.properties
+
 	TZ=UTC JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=-Dfile.encoding=UTF8 ant preppkg-unix javadoc
 	echo router.updateDisabled=true > $(I2P)/router.config
 	mv $(I2P)/runplain.sh $(I2P)/i2prouter-nowrapper