diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/builder.sh b/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/builder.sh
index d40b9de2f7d..d36ffe81aae 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/builder.sh
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/builder.sh
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ fi
 
 
 preConfigure() {
+    # Copy `ecj.jar' to `$(top_srcdir)' when available.
+    if [ -f "$javaEcj" ]
+    then
+	cp -v "$javaEcj" "ecj.jar"
+    fi
+
     # Perform the build in a different directory.
     mkdir ../build
     cd ../build
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/default.nix
index 7d09cc9e298..2b26b9b01a3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/gcc-4.4/default.nix
@@ -45,16 +45,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ({
     optional langJava (fetchurl {
       url = "mirror://gcc/releases/gcc-${version}/gcc-java-${version}.tar.bz2";
       sha256 = "0i60llrllgm4sbplw2rc9b0gi0mxr88la07a72mvlbblzpxn22hb";
-    }) ++
-
-    optional langJava (fetchurl {
-      # The `$(top_srcdir)/ecj.jar' file is automatically picked up at
-      # `configure' time.
-
-      # XXX: Eventually we might want to take it from upstream.
-      url = "ftp://sourceware.org/pub/java/ecj-4.3.jar";
-      name = "ecj.jar";
-      sha256 = "0jz7hvc0s6iydmhgh5h2m15yza7p2rlss2vkif30vm9y77m97qcx";
     });
 
   patches =
@@ -62,6 +52,19 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ({
     ++ optional noSysDirs ./no-sys-dirs.patch
     ++ optional (noSysDirs && langFortran) ./no-sys-dirs-fortran.patch;
 
+  javaEcj =
+    if langJava
+    then fetchurl {
+        # The `$(top_srcdir)/ecj.jar' file is automatically picked up at
+        # `configure' time.
+
+        # XXX: Eventually we might want to take it from upstream.
+        url = "ftp://sourceware.org/pub/java/ecj-4.3.jar";
+        sha256 = "0jz7hvc0s6iydmhgh5h2m15yza7p2rlss2vkif30vm9y77m97qcx";
+      }
+    else "";
+
+
   inherit noSysDirs profiledCompiler staticCompiler;
 
   buildInputs = [ texinfo gmp mpfr gettext ]