--- old/src/share/vm/memory/cardTableRS.cpp	2014-10-17 15:43:21.000000000 +0200
+++ new/src/share/vm/memory/cardTableRS.cpp	2014-10-17 15:43:21.000000000 +0200
@@ -56,12 +56,15 @@
 #endif
   _ct_bs->initialize();
   set_bs(_ct_bs);
-  _last_cur_val_in_gen = NEW_C_HEAP_ARRAY3(jbyte, GenCollectedHeap::max_gens + 1,
+  // max_gens is really GenCollectedHeap::heap()->gen_policy()->number_of_generations()
+  // (which always is 2), but GenCollectedHeap has not been initialized yet.
+  int max_gens = 2;
+  _last_cur_val_in_gen = NEW_C_HEAP_ARRAY3(jbyte, max_gens + 1,
                          mtGC, CURRENT_PC, AllocFailStrategy::RETURN_NULL);
   if (_last_cur_val_in_gen == NULL) {
     vm_exit_during_initialization("Could not create last_cur_val_in_gen array.");
   }
-  for (int i = 0; i < GenCollectedHeap::max_gens + 1; i++) {
+  for (int i = 0; i < max_gens + 1; i++) {
     _last_cur_val_in_gen[i] = clean_card_val();
   }
   _ct_bs->set_CTRS(this);