diff --git a/classpath/java-nio.cpp b/classpath/java-nio.cpp
index d5e067e1e4..dc15639dc7 100644
--- a/classpath/java-nio.cpp
+++ b/classpath/java-nio.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (c) 2008-2011, Avian Contributors
+/* Copyright (c) 2008-2012, Avian Contributors
 
    Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software
    for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided
@@ -1015,3 +1015,15 @@ Java_java_nio_channels_SocketSelector_natUpdateReadySet(JNIEnv *, jclass,
 }
 
 
+extern "C" JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL
+Java_java_nio_ByteOrder_isNativeBigEndian(JNIEnv *, jclass)
+{
+  union {
+    uint32_t i;
+    char c[4];
+  } u = {0x01020304};
+
+  if (u.c[0] == 1)
+    return JNI_TRUE;
+  return JNI_FALSE;
+}
diff --git a/classpath/java/nio/ByteOrder.java b/classpath/java/nio/ByteOrder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e2b432ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/classpath/java/nio/ByteOrder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/* Copyright (c) 2012, Avian Contributors
+
+   Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software
+   for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided
+   that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear
+   in all copies.
+
+   There is NO WARRANTY for this software.  See license.txt for
+   details. */
+
+package java.nio;
+
+public final class ByteOrder {
+    public static final ByteOrder BIG_ENDIAN = new ByteOrder("BIG_ENDIAN");
+    public static final ByteOrder LITTLE_ENDIAN = new ByteOrder("LITTLE_ENDIAN");
+    
+    private static final ByteOrder NATIVE;
+    private static native boolean isNativeBigEndian();
+
+    static {
+        if (isNativeBigEndian())
+            NATIVE = BIG_ENDIAN;
+        else
+            NATIVE = LITTLE_ENDIAN;
+    }
+
+    private String name;
+
+    private ByteOrder(String name) {
+        this.name = name;
+    }
+
+    public String toString() {
+        return name;
+    }
+
+    public static ByteOrder nativeOrder() {
+        return NATIVE;
+    }
+}