diff --git a/jetty-websocket.spec b/jetty-websocket.spec
index aee8f6d..3997540 100644
--- a/jetty-websocket.spec
+++ b/jetty-websocket.spec
@@ -306,7 +306,11 @@ sed -i '/<SystemProperty name="jetty.state"/d' \
 
 # we don't have all necessary dependencies to run tests
 # missing test dep: org.eclipse.jetty.toolchain:jetty-perf-helper
-%{mvn_build} -f -s -- -Dsource=8
+%{mvn_build} -f -s -- \
+%if %{?pkg_vcmp:%pkg_vcmp java-devel >= 9}%{!?pkg_vcmp:0}
+    -Dmaven.compiler.release=8 \
+%endif
+    -Dsource=8
 
 %install
 %mvn_install