--- a/make/autoconf/flags.m4	Tue Feb 06 16:04:46 2018 +0000
+++ b/make/autoconf/flags.m4	Tue Feb 06 10:12:05 2018 -0800
@@ -1113,10 +1113,11 @@
 
   # Additional macosx handling
   if test "x$OPENJDK_$1_OS" = xmacosx; then
-    # MACOSX_VERSION_MIN is the c++ and ld is -mmacosx-version-min argument. The expected
-    # format is X.Y.Z. It's hard-coded to the minimum OSX version on which the
-    # JDK can be built and makes the linked binaries compatible even if built on
-    # a newer version of the OS.
+    # MACOSX_VERSION_MIN specifies the lowest version of Macosx that the built
+    # binaries should be compatible with, even if compiled on a newer version
+    # of the OS. It currently has a hard coded value. Setting this also limits
+    # exposure to API changes in header files. Bumping this is likely to
+    # require code changes to build.
     MACOSX_VERSION_MIN=10.7.0
     AC_SUBST(MACOSX_VERSION_MIN)
 
@@ -1150,6 +1151,7 @@
     $2JVM_CFLAGS="[$]$2JVM_CFLAGS \
         -DMAC_OS_X_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED=\$(subst .,,\$(MACOSX_VERSION_MIN)) \
         -mmacosx-version-min=\$(MACOSX_VERSION_MIN)"
+    $2ARFLAGS="$2$ARFLAGS -mmacosx-version-min=\$(MACOSX_VERSION_MIN)"
 
     if test -n "$MACOSX_VERSION_MAX"; then
         $2COMMON_CCXXFLAGS_JDK="[$]$2COMMON_CCXXFLAGS_JDK \