diff -Nru openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.cpp openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.cpp
--- openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.cpp	2011-02-28 16:03:18.000000000 +0000
+++ openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.cpp	2012-06-08 00:15:54.443779814 +0100
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1998, 2007, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1998, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -536,13 +536,22 @@
 }
 
 static const char* cc_file() {
-  if (CompileCommandFile == NULL)
+#ifdef ASSERT
+  if (CompileCommandFile == NULL) {
     return ".hotspot_compiler";
+  }
+#endif
   return CompileCommandFile;
 }
+
+bool CompilerOracle::has_command_file() {
+  return cc_file() != NULL;
+}
+
 bool CompilerOracle::_quiet = false;
 
 void CompilerOracle::parse_from_file() {
+  assert(has_command_file(), "command file must be specified");
   FILE* stream = fopen(cc_file(), "rt");
   if (stream == NULL) return;
 
@@ -585,6 +594,7 @@
 }
 
 void CompilerOracle::append_comment_to_file(const char* message) {
+  assert(has_command_file(), "command file must be specified");
   fileStream stream(fopen(cc_file(), "at"));
   stream.print("# ");
   for (int index = 0; message[index] != '\0'; index++) {
@@ -595,6 +605,7 @@
 }
 
 void CompilerOracle::append_exclude_to_file(methodHandle method) {
+  assert(has_command_file(), "command file must be specified");
   fileStream stream(fopen(cc_file(), "at"));
   stream.print("exclude ");
   Klass::cast(method->method_holder())->name()->print_symbol_on(&stream);
@@ -609,7 +620,9 @@
 void compilerOracle_init() {
   CompilerOracle::parse_from_string(CompileCommand, CompilerOracle::parse_from_line);
   CompilerOracle::parse_from_string(CompileOnly, CompilerOracle::parse_compile_only);
-  CompilerOracle::parse_from_file();
+  if (CompilerOracle::has_command_file()) {
+    CompilerOracle::parse_from_file();
+  }
   if (lists[PrintCommand] != NULL) {
     if (PrintAssembly) {
       warning("CompileCommand and/or .hotspot_compiler file contains 'print' commands, but PrintAssembly is also enabled");
diff -Nru openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.hpp openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.hpp
--- openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.hpp	2011-02-28 16:03:18.000000000 +0000
+++ openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/compiler/compilerOracle.hpp	2012-06-08 00:16:00.915884779 +0100
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1998, 2006, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1998, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@
   static bool _quiet;
 
  public:
+
+  // True if the command file has been specified or is implicit
+  static bool has_command_file();
+
   // Reads from file and adds to lists
   static void parse_from_file();
 
diff -Nru openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp
--- openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp	2011-02-28 16:03:20.000000000 +0000
+++ openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/opto/runtime.cpp	2012-06-08 00:13:35.845532462 +0100
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1998, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1998, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -748,7 +748,8 @@
       methodOop method = ((nmethod*)n)->method();
       tty->print_cr("# Method where it happened %s.%s ", Klass::cast(method->method_holder())->name()->as_C_string(), method->name()->as_C_string());
       tty->print_cr("#");
-      if (ShowMessageBoxOnError && UpdateHotSpotCompilerFileOnError) {
+      if (ShowMessageBoxOnError && UpdateHotSpotCompilerFileOnError &&
+          CompilerOracle::has_command_file()) {
         const char* title    = "HotSpot Runtime Error";
         const char* question = "Do you want to exclude compilation of this method in future runs?";
         if (os::message_box(title, question)) {
diff -Nru openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp
--- openjdk.orig/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp	2011-02-28 16:03:21.000000000 +0000
+++ openjdk/hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/arguments.cpp	2012-06-08 00:13:35.849532527 +0100
@@ -2850,12 +2850,14 @@
     }
   }
 
+#ifdef ASSERT
   // Parse default .hotspotrc settings file
   if (!settings_file_specified) {
     if (!process_settings_file(".hotspotrc", false, args->ignoreUnrecognized)) {
       return JNI_EINVAL;
     }
   }
+#endif
 
   if (PrintVMOptions) {
     for (index = 0; index < args->nOptions; index++) {