diff --git a/stf.build/include/top.xml b/stf.build/include/top.xml
index 149fe28..ad2aa95 100644
--- a/stf.build/include/top.xml
+++ b/stf.build/include/top.xml
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ limitations under the License.
 	<condition property="isOpenJ9" value="true" else="false" >
 		<contains string="${java_java_vm_vendor}" substring="J9"/>
 	</condition>
+	
+	<condition property="isZOS" value="true">
+		<equals arg1="${os.name}" arg2="z/OS"/>
+	</condition>
+
+	<condition property="download-tool" value="curl" else="wget">
+		<isset property="isZOS"/>
+	</condition>
 
 	<!--
 		Determine the java version being used for the build and set properties for use by build.xml files.
@@ -362,18 +370,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 		<available file="curl" filepath="${env.PATH}" property="curl_available"/>
 	</target>
 	
-	<condition property="isZOS" value="true">
-			<equals arg1="${os.name}" arg2="z/OS"/>
-	</condition>
-		
-	<condition property="src-encoding" value="IBM-1047" else="UTF-8">
-		<isset property="isZOS"/>
-	</condition>
-
-	<condition property="download-tool" value="curl" else="wget">
-		<isset property="isZOS"/>
-	</condition>
-	
 	<condition property="download-tool-security-options" value="-k" else="--no-check-certificate">
 		<isset property="isZOS"/>
 	</condition>
diff --git a/stf.core/build.xml b/stf.core/build.xml
index 96503d7..f4b64d3 100644
--- a/stf.core/build.xml
+++ b/stf.core/build.xml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 			   fork="true"
 			   executable="${java_compiler}"
 			   classpathref="project.class.path"
-			    encoding="${src-encoding}"
+			   encoding="ISO-8859-1"
 			   includeantruntime="false"
 			   failonerror="true">
 			<include name="**/*.java"/>
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 			   fork="true"
 			   executable="${java_compiler}"
 			   classpathref="project.class.path"
-			   encoding="${src-encoding}"
+			   encoding="ISO-8859-1"
 			   includeantruntime="false"
 			   failonerror="true">
 			<include name="**/*.java"/>
diff --git a/stf.load/build.xml b/stf.load/build.xml
index 9018ef8..9367e43 100644
--- a/stf.load/build.xml
+++ b/stf.load/build.xml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 			   fork="true"
 			   executable="${java_compiler}"
 			   classpathref="project.class.path"
-			   encoding="${src-encoding}"
+			   encoding="ISO-8859-1"
 			   includeantruntime="false"
 			   failonerror="true">
 			<include name="**/*.java"/>
diff --git a/stf.samples/build.xml b/stf.samples/build.xml
index 10fe513..a344867 100644
--- a/stf.samples/build.xml
+++ b/stf.samples/build.xml
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 			   fork="true"
 			   executable="${java_compiler}"
 			   classpathref="project.class.path"
-			   encoding="${src-encoding}"
+			   encoding="ISO-8859-1"
 			   includeantruntime="false"
 			   failonerror="true">
 			<include name="**/*.java"/>