diff --git a/freemarker-2.3.29.jar b/freemarker-2.3.29.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec530fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/freemarker-2.3.29.jar
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
+oid sha256:ce9ffbcd065cbce1d5bf295755965167cdbaea4d13039a09e842cea32f0d7655
+size 1586948
diff --git a/java-1_8_0-openj9.spec b/java-1_8_0-openj9.spec
index 93a0a5b..8c18a76 100644
--- a/java-1_8_0-openj9.spec
+++ b/java-1_8_0-openj9.spec
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 %global openj9_branch   v0.18.1-release
 %global openj9_tag      openj9-0.18.1
 %global icedtea_sound_version 1.0.1
+%global freemarker_version 2.3.29
 # priority must be 6 digits in total
 %global priority        1801
 %global javaver         1.8.0
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@
 %global imagestarget images
 %endif
 %global bits 64
+%bcond_without bootstrap
 Name:           java-1_8_0-openj9
 Version:        %{javaver}.%{updatever}
 Release:        0
@@ -128,7 +130,6 @@ BuildRequires:  cups-devel
 BuildRequires:  desktop-file-utils
 BuildRequires:  fdupes
 BuildRequires:  fontconfig
-BuildRequires:  freemarker
 BuildRequires:  freetype2-devel
 BuildRequires:  gcc-c++
 BuildRequires:  giflib-devel
@@ -194,6 +195,12 @@ Provides:       jre1.6.x
 Provides:       jre1.7.x
 Provides:       jre1.8.x
 ExclusiveArch:  x86_64 ppc64le s390x
+%if %{with bootstrap}
+# When bootstrapping, use the freemarker jar from maven central
+Source10:       https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/freemarker/freemarker/%{freemarker_version}/freemarker-%{freemarker_version}.jar
+%else
+BuildRequires:  freemarker
+%endif
 %if %{bootcycle}
 BuildRequires:  java-devel >= 1.7
 BuildConflicts: java >= 9
@@ -400,7 +407,11 @@ bash configure \
     --with-stdc++lib=dynamic \
     --with-native-debug-symbols=internal \
     --with-boot-jdk=%{_sysconfdir}/alternatives/java_sdk \
+%if %{with bootstrap}
+    --with-freemarker-jar=%{SOURCE10}
+%else
     --with-freemarker-jar=%{_javadir}/freemarker.jar
+%endif
 
 # The combination of FULL_DEBUG_SYMBOLS=0 and ALT_OBJCOPY=/does_not_exist
 # disables FDS for all build configs and reverts to pre-FDS make logic.