--- a/hotspot/src/os/linux/vm/os_linux.cpp	Fri Oct 10 21:47:04 2014 +0000
+++ b/hotspot/src/os/linux/vm/os_linux.cpp	Mon Oct 13 22:11:39 2014 +0200
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@
 
 int (*os::Linux::_clock_gettime)(clockid_t, struct timespec *) = NULL;
 int (*os::Linux::_pthread_getcpuclockid)(pthread_t, clockid_t *) = NULL;
+int (*os::Linux::_pthread_setname_np)(pthread_t, const char*) = NULL;
 Mutex* os::Linux::_createThread_lock = NULL;
 pthread_t os::Linux::_main_thread;
 int os::Linux::_page_size = -1;
@@ -4695,6 +4696,11 @@
     StackRedPages = 1;
     StackShadowPages = round_to((StackShadowPages*Linux::vm_default_page_size()), vm_page_size()) / vm_page_size();
   }
+
+  // retrieve entry point for pthread_setname_np
+  Linux::_pthread_setname_np =
+    (int(*)(pthread_t, const char*))dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "pthread_setname_np");
+
 }
 
 // To install functions for atexit system call
@@ -4894,8 +4900,14 @@
 }
 
 void os::set_native_thread_name(const char *name) {
-  // Not yet implemented.
-  return;
+  if (Linux::_pthread_setname_np) {
+    char buf [16]; // according to glibc manpage, 16 chars incl. '/0'
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s", name);
+    buf[sizeof(buf) - 1] = '\0';
+    const int rc = Linux::_pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), buf);
+    // ERANGE should not happen; all other errors should just be ignored.
+    assert(rc != ERANGE, "pthread_setname_np failed");
+  }
 }
 
 bool os::distribute_processes(uint length, uint* distribution) {