diff -r 5d25e03c3634 -r 77f7d412d0a1 hotspot/src/cpu/sparc/vm/c1_CodeStubs_sparc.cpp
--- a/hotspot/src/cpu/sparc/vm/c1_CodeStubs_sparc.cpp	Fri Jan 20 17:07:33 2012 -0800
+++ b/hotspot/src/cpu/sparc/vm/c1_CodeStubs_sparc.cpp	Wed Jan 25 17:40:51 2012 -0500
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@
   __ load_klass(src_reg, tmp_reg);
 
   Address ref_type_adr(tmp_reg, instanceKlass::reference_type_offset());
-  __ ld(ref_type_adr, tmp_reg);
+  __ ldub(ref_type_adr, tmp_reg);
 
   // _reference_type field is of type ReferenceType (enum)
   assert(REF_NONE == 0, "check this code");