--- old/src/hotspot/share/runtime/signature.cpp	2018-10-01 15:59:00.845763290 -0400
+++ new/src/hotspot/share/runtime/signature.cpp	2018-10-01 15:59:00.378170691 -0400
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 }
 
 void SignatureIterator::expect(char c) {
-  if (_signature->byte_at(_index) != c) fatal("expecting %c", c);
+  if (_signature->char_at(_index) != c) fatal("expecting %c", c);
   _index++;
 }
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
   //       work (stack underflow for some tests) - this seems to be a VC++ 6.0
   //       compiler bug (was problem - gri 4/27/2000).
   int size = -1;
-  switch(_signature->byte_at(_index)) {
+  switch(_signature->char_at(_index)) {
     case 'B': do_byte  (); if (_parameter_index < 0 ) _return_type = T_BYTE;
               _index++; size = T_BYTE_size   ; break;
     case 'C': do_char  (); if (_parameter_index < 0 ) _return_type = T_CHAR;
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
     case 'L':
       { int begin = ++_index;
         Symbol* sig = _signature;
-        while (sig->byte_at(_index++) != ';') ;
+        while (sig->char_at(_index++) != ';') ;
         do_object(begin, _index);
       }
       if (_parameter_index < 0 ) _return_type = T_OBJECT;
@@ -92,11 +92,11 @@
     case '[':
       { int begin = ++_index;
         Symbol* sig = _signature;
-        while (sig->byte_at(_index) == '[') {
+        while (sig->char_at(_index) == '[') {
           _index++;
         }
-        if (sig->byte_at(_index) == 'L') {
-          while (sig->byte_at(_index++) != ';') ;
+        if (sig->char_at(_index) == 'L') {
+          while (sig->char_at(_index++) != ';') ;
         } else {
           _index++;
         }
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@
   _index = 0;
   _parameter_index = 0;
   expect('(');
-  while (_signature->byte_at(_index) != ')') _parameter_index += parse_type();
+  while (_signature->char_at(_index) != ')') _parameter_index += parse_type();
   expect(')');
   _parameter_index = 0;
 }
@@ -217,8 +217,8 @@
   // Need to skip over each type in the signature's argument list until a
   // closing ')' is found., then get the return type.  We cannot just scan
   // for the first ')' because ')' is a legal character in a type name.
-  while (sig->byte_at(_index) != ')') {
-    switch(sig->byte_at(_index)) {
+  while (sig->char_at(_index) != ')') {
+    switch(sig->char_at(_index)) {
       case 'B':
       case 'C':
       case 'D':
@@ -234,17 +234,17 @@
         break;
       case 'L':
         {
-          while (sig->byte_at(_index++) != ';') ;
+          while (sig->char_at(_index++) != ';') ;
         }
         break;
       case '[':
         {
           int begin = ++_index;
-          while (sig->byte_at(_index) == '[') {
+          while (sig->char_at(_index) == '[') {
             _index++;
           }
-          if (sig->byte_at(_index) == 'L') {
-            while (sig->byte_at(_index++) != ';') ;
+          if (sig->char_at(_index) == 'L') {
+            while (sig->char_at(_index++) != ';') ;
           } else {
             _index++;
           }
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@
   _parameter_index = 0;
   _index = 0;
   expect('(');
-  while (_signature->byte_at(_index) != ')') _parameter_index += parse_type();
+  while (_signature->char_at(_index) != ')') _parameter_index += parse_type();
   expect(')');
   // Parse return type
   _parameter_index = -1;
@@ -304,20 +304,20 @@
     case 'L': {
       _type = T_OBJECT;
       Symbol* sig = _signature;
-      while (sig->byte_at(_end++) != ';');
+      while (sig->char_at(_end++) != ';');
       break;
     }
     case '[': {
       _type = T_ARRAY;
       Symbol* sig = _signature;
-      char c = sig->byte_at(_end);
-      while ('0' <= c && c <= '9') c = sig->byte_at(_end++);
-      while (sig->byte_at(_end) == '[') {
+      char c = sig->char_at(_end);
+      while ('0' <= c && c <= '9') c = sig->char_at(_end++);
+      while (sig->char_at(_end) == '[') {
         _end++;
-        c = sig->byte_at(_end);
-        while ('0' <= c && c <= '9') c = sig->byte_at(_end++);
+        c = sig->char_at(_end);
+        while ('0' <= c && c <= '9') c = sig->char_at(_end++);
       }
-      switch(sig->byte_at(_end)) {
+      switch(sig->char_at(_end)) {
         case 'B':
         case 'C':
         case 'D':
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@
         case 'S':
         case 'Z':_end++; break;
         default: {
-          while (sig->byte_at(_end++) != ';');
+          while (sig->char_at(_end++) != ';');
           break;
         }
       }
@@ -353,8 +353,8 @@
   int begin = _begin;
   int end   = _end;
 
-  if (   _signature->byte_at(_begin) == 'L'
-      && _signature->byte_at(_end-1) == ';') {
+  if (   _signature->char_at(_begin) == 'L'
+      && _signature->char_at(_end-1) == ';') {
     begin++;
     end--;
   }
@@ -394,15 +394,15 @@
   int begin = _begin;
   int end   = _end;
 
-  if (   _signature->byte_at(_begin) == 'L'
-      && _signature->byte_at(_end-1) == ';') {
+  if (   _signature->char_at(_begin) == 'L'
+      && _signature->char_at(_end-1) == ';') {
     begin++;
     end--;
   }
 
   char* buffer = NEW_RESOURCE_ARRAY(char, end - begin);
   for (int index = begin; index < end; index++) {
-    buffer[index - begin] = _signature->byte_at(index);
+    buffer[index - begin] = _signature->char_at(index);
   }
   Symbol* result = SymbolTable::probe(buffer, end - begin);
   return result;