diff --git a/app/build.xml b/app/build.xml
index f9d75873d..47c0683d3 100644
--- a/app/build.xml
+++ b/app/build.xml
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@
     <fail if="windows" unless="java_tools_found" 
 	  message="The JAVA_HOME variable must be set to the location of a full JDK. For instance, on Windows, this might be c:\jdk1.6.0_19." />
 
-    <javac target="1.6" 
+    <javac source="1.6" 
+	   target="1.6" 
 	   destdir="bin" 
 	   excludes="**/tools/format/**" 
 	   encoding="UTF-8" 
diff --git a/app/src/processing/mode/java/runner/Runner.java b/app/src/processing/mode/java/runner/Runner.java
index 225d75a60..3b2489ae6 100644
--- a/app/src/processing/mode/java/runner/Runner.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/mode/java/runner/Runner.java
@@ -337,9 +337,14 @@ public class Runner implements MessageConsumer {
       commandArgs =
         "java -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_shmem,address=" + addr + ",suspend=y ";
     } else if (Base.isMacOS()) {
+      // This will run a 32-bit VM (likely 1.6) or a 64-bit VM (probably 1.7)
+      // based on Apple's recent changes. The --request flag will prompt to 
+      // install a JVM if none is available. Or if only Java 7 is installed,
+      // and 32-bit is requested, this will download Apple's 32-bit Java 6.
       commandArgs =
-        "java -d" + Base.getNativeBits() + //Preferences.get("run.options.bits") +
-        " -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=" + addr + ",suspend=y ";
+        "/usr/libexec/java_home --request " +
+        "-d" + Base.getNativeBits() + " -exec java " + 
+        "-Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=" + addr + ",suspend=y ";
     }
 
     for (int i = 0; i < vmParams.length; i++) {