--- old/src/hotspot/share/gc/cms/cmsHeap.cpp	2018-12-09 03:18:54.194418004 -0500
+++ new/src/hotspot/share/gc/cms/cmsHeap.cpp	2018-12-09 03:18:53.854399998 -0500
@@ -70,19 +70,24 @@
                      Generation::ParNew,
                      Generation::ConcurrentMarkSweep,
                      "ParNew:CMS"),
+    _workers(NULL),
     _eden_pool(NULL),
     _survivor_pool(NULL),
     _old_pool(NULL) {
-  _workers = new WorkGang("GC Thread", ParallelGCThreads,
-                          /* are_GC_task_threads */true,
-                          /* are_ConcurrentGC_threads */false);
-  _workers->initialize_workers();
 }
 
 jint CMSHeap::initialize() {
   jint status = GenCollectedHeap::initialize();
   if (status != JNI_OK) return status;
 
+  _workers = new WorkGang("GC Thread", ParallelGCThreads,
+                          /* are_GC_task_threads */true,
+                          /* are_ConcurrentGC_threads */false);
+  if (_workers == NULL) {
+    return JNI_ENOMEM;
+  }
+  _workers->initialize_workers();
+
   // If we are running CMS, create the collector responsible
   // for collecting the CMS generations.
   if (!create_cms_collector()) {