diff --git a/plugins/groovy/hotswap/groovy-hotswap.iml b/plugins/groovy/hotswap/groovy-hotswap.iml
index 3b7925eaa87c..f19c4c50dad1 100644
--- a/plugins/groovy/hotswap/groovy-hotswap.iml
+++ b/plugins/groovy/hotswap/groovy-hotswap.iml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     <orderEntry type="module" module-name="jetgroovy" />
     <orderEntry type="module" module-name="lang-impl" />
     <orderEntry type="module" module-name="execution-impl" />
+    <orderEntry type="module" module-name="openapi" />
   </component>
 </module>
 
diff --git a/plugins/groovy/hotswap/pluginSrc/org/jetbrains/plugins/groovy/debugger/GroovyHotSwapper.java b/plugins/groovy/hotswap/pluginSrc/org/jetbrains/plugins/groovy/debugger/GroovyHotSwapper.java
index 98d46dff20b9..a1813415f96b 100644
--- a/plugins/groovy/hotswap/pluginSrc/org/jetbrains/plugins/groovy/debugger/GroovyHotSwapper.java
+++ b/plugins/groovy/hotswap/pluginSrc/org/jetbrains/plugins/groovy/debugger/GroovyHotSwapper.java
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import com.intellij.execution.executors.DefaultDebugExecutor;
 import com.intellij.execution.runners.JavaProgramPatcher;
 import com.intellij.openapi.application.PluginPathManager;
 import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project;
+import com.intellij.openapi.roots.LanguageLevelProjectExtension;
+import com.intellij.pom.java.LanguageLevel;
 import com.intellij.psi.search.FilenameIndex;
 import com.intellij.util.PathUtil;
 import org.jetbrains.plugins.groovy.GroovyFileTypeLoader;
@@ -52,7 +54,20 @@ public class GroovyHotSwapper extends JavaProgramPatcher {
       return;
     }
 
-    if (configuration instanceof RunConfiguration && containsGroovyClasses(((RunConfiguration)configuration).getProject())) {
+    if (!(configuration instanceof RunConfiguration)) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    final Project project = ((RunConfiguration)configuration).getProject();
+    if (project == null) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (LanguageLevelProjectExtension.getInstance(project).getLanguageLevel().compareTo(LanguageLevel.JDK_1_5) <= 0) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (containsGroovyClasses(project)) {
       javaParameters.getVMParametersList().add("-javaagent:" + getAgentJarPath());
     }
   }