diff --git a/biology/jalview/Makefile b/biology/jalview/Makefile
index 3eb8c2fbb697..7f4e6ee265f8 100644
--- a/biology/jalview/Makefile
+++ b/biology/jalview/Makefile
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ MAINTAINER=	ports@FreeBSD.org
 COMMENT=	Viewer and editor for multiple sequence alignments
 
 USE_JAVA=	yes
+JAVA_VERSION=	8
 USE_ANT=	yes
 ALL_TARGET=	makejars
 WRKSRC=		${WRKDIR}/${PORTNAME}