--- a/src/share/classes/sun/security/krb5/Config.java	Wed Mar 19 22:37:00 2014 +0400
+++ b/src/share/classes/sun/security/krb5/Config.java	Tue Mar 11 07:56:49 2014 +0800
@@ -549,12 +549,11 @@
                             previous = line.substring(1).trim();
                         }
                     } else {
-                        if (previous == null) {
-                            throw new KrbException(
-                                "Config file must starts with a section");
+                        // Lines before the first section are ignored
+                        if (previous != null) {
+                            v.add(previous);
+                            previous = line;
                         }
-                        v.add(previous);
-                        previous = line;
                     }
                 }
                 if (previous != null) {

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/test/sun/security/krb5/config/ExtraLines.java	Tue Mar 11 07:56:49 2014 +0800
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2014, 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
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+/*
+ * @test
+ * @bug 8036971
+ * @compile -XDignore.symbol.file ExtraLines.java
+ * @run main/othervm ExtraLines
+ * @summary krb5.conf does not accept directive lines before the first section
+ */
+
+import sun.security.krb5.Config;
+import java.nio.file.*;
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+public class ExtraLines {
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+        Path base = Paths.get("krb5.conf");
+        Path include = Paths.get("included.conf");
+        String baseConf = "include " + include.toAbsolutePath().toString()
+                + "\n[x]\na = b\n";
+        String includeConf = "[y]\nc = d\n";
+        Files.write(include, includeConf.getBytes());
+        Files.write(base, baseConf.getBytes());
+
+        System.setProperty("java.security.krb5.conf", base.toString());
+        Config.refresh();
+
+        if (!Objects.equals(Config.getInstance().get("x", "a"), "b")) {
+            throw new Exception("Failed");
+        }
+    }
+}