diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/javasupport/Java.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/javasupport/Java.java
index 66bbb136dc5..18e033004ad 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/javasupport/Java.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/javasupport/Java.java
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ public static RubyModule getProxyClass(Ruby runtime, JavaClass javaClass) {
 
     @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
     public static RubyModule getProxyClass(final Ruby runtime, final Class<?> clazz) {
-        return getProxyClass(runtime, clazz, false);
+        return getProxyClass(runtime, clazz, Options.JI_EAGER_CONSTANTS.load());
     }
 
     @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/util/cli/Options.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/util/cli/Options.java
index c76ea052371..af72ffad0ac 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/util/cli/Options.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/util/cli/Options.java
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ public class Options {
     public static final Option<Boolean> JI_LOAD_LAZY = bool(JAVA_INTEGRATION, "ji.load.lazy", true, "Load Java support (class extensions) lazily on demand or ahead of time.");
     public static final Option<Boolean> JI_CLOSE_CLASSLOADER = bool(JAVA_INTEGRATION, "ji.close.classloader", false, "Close the JRubyClassLoader used by each runtime");
     public static final Option<String> JI_NESTED_JAR_TMPDIR = string(JAVA_INTEGRATION, "ji.nested.jar.tmpdir", "Use specified dir as a base for unpacking nested jar files.");
+    public static final Option<Boolean> JI_EAGER_CONSTANTS = bool(JAVA_INTEGRATION, "ji.eager.constants", true, "Eagerly bind Java:: constants for newly-encountered classes");
 
     public static final Option<Integer> PROFILE_MAX_METHODS = integer(PROFILING, "profile.max.methods", 100000, "Maximum number of methods to consider for profiling.");