diff --git a/java.project/apichanges.xml b/java.project/apichanges.xml
--- a/java.project/apichanges.xml
+++ b/java.project/apichanges.xml
@@ -106,6 +106,23 @@
     <!-- ACTUAL CHANGES BEGIN HERE: -->
 
     <changes>
+        <change id="JavaRunner-runtime-encoding">
+            <api name="general"/>
+            <summary>Added JavaRunner.PROP_RUNTIME_ENCODING property for COS Runner</summary>
+            <version major="1" minor="28"/>
+            <date day="12" month="10" year="2009"/>
+            <author login="tzezula"/>
+            <compatibility addition="yes"/>
+            <description>
+                <p>
+                    Added <code>JavaRunner.PROP_RUNTIME_ENCODING</code> property to allow project types
+                    to pass the runtime encoding to jvm.
+                </p>
+            </description>
+            <class package="org.netbeans.api.java.project.runner" name="JavaRunner"/>
+            <issue number="173406"/>
+        </change>
+
         <change id="source-group-modifier-constants">
             <api name="general"/>
             <summary>Constants for SourceGroupModifier</summary>
diff --git a/java.project/manifest.mf b/java.project/manifest.mf
--- a/java.project/manifest.mf
+++ b/java.project/manifest.mf
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 OpenIDE-Module-Layer: org/netbeans/modules/java/project/layer.xml
 OpenIDE-Module-Localizing-Bundle: org/netbeans/modules/java/project/Bundle.properties
 OpenIDE-Module-Needs: javax.script.ScriptEngine.freemarker
-OpenIDE-Module-Specification-Version: 1.27
+OpenIDE-Module-Specification-Version: 1.28
 OpenIDE-Module-Recommends: org.netbeans.spi.java.project.runner.JavaRunnerImplementation
 AutoUpdate-Show-In-Client: false
 
diff --git a/java.project/src/org/netbeans/api/java/project/runner/JavaRunner.java b/java.project/src/org/netbeans/api/java/project/runner/JavaRunner.java
--- a/java.project/src/org/netbeans/api/java/project/runner/JavaRunner.java
+++ b/java.project/src/org/netbeans/api/java/project/runner/JavaRunner.java
@@ -217,6 +217,14 @@
      */
     public static final String PROP_APPLICATION_ARGS = "application.args";
 
+    /**
+     * Runtime file encoding passed to the jvm (-Dfile.encoding).
+     * If not given the {@link org.netbeans.api.queries.FileEncodingQuery} is used
+     * to obtain the encoding.
+     * @since 1.28
+     */
+    public static final String PROP_RUNTIME_ENCODING = "runtime.encoding";  //NOI18N
+
     private static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(JavaRunner.class.getName());
 
     /**