--- old/src/share/vm/memory/referenceProcessor.cpp	2011-12-09 11:25:20.596200349 -0800
+++ new/src/share/vm/memory/referenceProcessor.cpp	2011-12-09 11:25:20.366738000 -0800
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@
 }
 
 void ReferenceProcessor::init_statics() {
-  jlong now = os::javaTimeMillis();
+  // We need a montonically increasing time in ms but os::javaTimeMillis()
+  // does not guarantee montonicity.
+  jlong now = os::javaTimeNanos() / NANOSECS_PER_MILLISEC;
 
   // Initialize the soft ref timestamp clock.
   _soft_ref_timestamp_clock = now;
@@ -151,7 +153,10 @@
 void ReferenceProcessor::update_soft_ref_master_clock() {
   // Update (advance) the soft ref master clock field. This must be done
   // after processing the soft ref list.
-  jlong now = os::javaTimeMillis();
+
+  // We need a montonically increasing time in ms but os::javaTimeMillis()
+  // does not guarantee montonicity.
+  jlong now = os::javaTimeNanos() / NANOSECS_PER_MILLISEC;
   jlong soft_ref_clock = java_lang_ref_SoftReference::clock();
   assert(soft_ref_clock == _soft_ref_timestamp_clock, "soft ref clocks out of sync");