diff --git a/tomcat-multiple-instances/defaults/main.yml b/tomcat-multiple-instances/defaults/main.yml
index 911cb6b9..8dac1fa5 100644
--- a/tomcat-multiple-instances/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/tomcat-multiple-instances/defaults/main.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ tomcat_m_restart_timeout: 300
 # -server -Djava.awt.headless=true are always used. No need to specify them
 tomcat_m_java_opts_heap: "-Xms{{ tomcat_m_min_heap_size }} -Xmx{{ tomcat_m_heap_size }}"
 tomcat_m_java_opts_permgen: "-XX:MaxPermSize={{ tomcat_m_permgen_size }}"
-tomcat_m_java_opts: "{{ tomcat_m_java_opts_permgen }}"
+tomcat_m_java_opts: ""
 tomcat_m_java_gc_opts: "-XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC"
 # Use "-XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC" to enable the CMS garbage collector (improved
 # response time). If you use that option and you run Tomcat on a machine with
diff --git a/tomcat-multiple-instances/templates/tomcat-default.j2 b/tomcat-multiple-instances/templates/tomcat-default.j2
index fbed83fa..b976b2a7 100644
--- a/tomcat-multiple-instances/templates/tomcat-default.j2
+++ b/tomcat-multiple-instances/templates/tomcat-default.j2
@@ -7,8 +7,16 @@ JAVA_HEAP="{{ item.java_heap }}"
 {% else %}
 JAVA_HEAP="{{ tomcat_m_java_opts_heap }}"
 {% endif %}
+JAVA_PERMGEN=
+{% if jdk_default <= 7 %}
+{% if item.java_permgen_size is defined %}
+JAVA_PERMGEN="-XX:MaxPermSize={{ item.java_permgen_size }}"
+{% else %}
+JAVA_PERMGEN="-XX:MaxPermSize={{ tomcat_m_permgen_size }}"
+{% endif %}
+{% endif %}
 {% if item.java_opts is defined %}
-JAVA_OPTS="{{ item.java_opts }} $JAVA_OPTS $JAVA_HEAP"
+JAVA_OPTS="{{ item.java_opts }} $JAVA_OPTS $JAVA_HEAP $JAVA_PERMGEN"
 {% endif %}
 {% if item.java_gc_opts is defined %}
 JAVA_OPTS="{{ item.java_gc_opts }} $JAVA_OPTS"