diff --git a/classpath/java/lang/ExceptionInInitializerError.java b/classpath/java/lang/ExceptionInInitializerError.java
index d5014e9a35..1b39d248d8 100644
--- a/classpath/java/lang/ExceptionInInitializerError.java
+++ b/classpath/java/lang/ExceptionInInitializerError.java
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@
 package java.lang;
 
 public class ExceptionInInitializerError extends Error {
-  private final Throwable cause2;
+  private final Throwable exception;
 
   public ExceptionInInitializerError(String message) {
     super(message);
-    cause2 = null;
+    exception = null;
   }
 
   public ExceptionInInitializerError() {
diff --git a/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Field.java b/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Field.java
index debabdb0f3..5bb0bc6081 100644
--- a/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Field.java
+++ b/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Field.java
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ public class Field<T> extends AccessibleObject {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException();
     }
 
+    Classes.initialize(vmField.class_);
+
     switch (vmField.code) {
     case ByteField:
       return Byte.valueOf
@@ -171,6 +173,8 @@ public class Field<T> extends AccessibleObject {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException();
     }
 
+    Classes.initialize(vmField.class_);
+
     switch (vmField.code) {
     case ByteField:
       setPrimitive(target, vmField.code, vmField.offset, (Byte) value);
@@ -235,6 +239,8 @@ public class Field<T> extends AccessibleObject {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException();
     }
 
+    Classes.initialize(vmField.class_);
+
     switch (vmField.code) {
     case ByteField:
     case BooleanField:
diff --git a/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Method.java b/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Method.java
index 55c7744c13..339db3dbb0 100644
--- a/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Method.java
+++ b/classpath/java/lang/reflect/Method.java
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ public class Method<T> extends AccessibleObject implements Member {
       }
 
       if (arguments.length == vmMethod.parameterCount) {
+        Classes.initialize(vmMethod.class_);
+
         return invoke(vmMethod, instance, arguments);        
       } else {
         throw new ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException();
diff --git a/src/avian/classpath-common.h b/src/avian/classpath-common.h
index 4265c48998..b2c5fb7d45 100644
--- a/src/avian/classpath-common.h
+++ b/src/avian/classpath-common.h
@@ -567,13 +567,14 @@ invoke(Thread* t, object method, object instance, object args)
     }
   }
 
+  initClass(t, methodClass(t, method));
+
   unsigned returnCode = methodReturnCode(t, method);
 
   THREAD_RESOURCE0(t, {
       if (t->exception) {
-        object exception = t->exception;
         t->exception = makeThrowable
-          (t, Machine::InvocationTargetExceptionType, 0, 0, exception);
+          (t, Machine::InvocationTargetExceptionType, 0, 0, t->exception);
         
         set(t, t->exception, InvocationTargetExceptionTarget,
             throwableCause(t, t->exception));
diff --git a/src/machine.cpp b/src/machine.cpp
index cb3186c216..a338e9ac6b 100644
--- a/src/machine.cpp
+++ b/src/machine.cpp
@@ -4534,8 +4534,13 @@ postInitClass(Thread* t, object c)
     object exception = t->exception;
     t->exception = 0;
 
-    throwNew(t, Machine::ExceptionInInitializerErrorType,
-             static_cast<object>(0), 0, exception);
+    exception = makeThrowable
+      (t, Machine::ExceptionInInitializerErrorType, 0, 0, exception);
+        
+    set(t, exception, ExceptionInInitializerErrorException,
+        throwableCause(t, exception));
+
+    throw_(t, exception);
   } else {
     classVmFlags(t, c) &= ~(NeedInitFlag | InitFlag);
   }
diff --git a/test/Reflection.java b/test/Reflection.java
index 764293f0af..cd75f68200 100644
--- a/test/Reflection.java
+++ b/test/Reflection.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import java.lang.reflect.Field;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
 import java.lang.reflect.Type;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
 
 public class Reflection {
   public static boolean booleanMethod() {
@@ -92,6 +93,10 @@ public class Reflection {
     expect(args[0] == String.class);
   }
 
+  public static void throwOOME() {
+    throw new OutOfMemoryError();
+  }
+
   public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
     innerClasses();
     annotations();
@@ -130,5 +135,50 @@ public class Reflection {
     expect("[Ljava.lang.Class;".equals(array[0].getClass().getName()));
     expect(Class[].class == array[0].getClass());
     expect(array.getClass().getComponentType() == array[0].getClass());
+
+    try {
+      Foo.class.getMethod("foo").invoke(null);
+      expect(false);
+    } catch (ExceptionInInitializerError e) {
+      expect(e.getCause() instanceof MyException);
+    }
+
+    try {
+      Foo.class.getConstructor().newInstance();
+      expect(false);
+    } catch (NoClassDefFoundError e) {
+      // cool
+    }
+
+    try {
+      Foo.class.getField("foo").get(null);
+      expect(false);
+    } catch (NoClassDefFoundError e) {
+      // cool
+    }
+
+    { Method m = Reflection.class.getMethod("throwOOME");
+      try {
+        m.invoke(null);
+      } catch(Throwable t) {
+        expect(t.getClass() == InvocationTargetException.class);
+      }
+    }
   }
 }
+
+class Foo {
+  static {
+    if (true) throw new MyException();
+  }
+
+  public Foo() { }
+
+  public static int foo;
+
+  public static void foo() {
+    // ignore
+  }
+}
+
+class MyException extends RuntimeException { }