diff --git a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/reflect/InvocationTargetException.java b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/reflect/InvocationTargetException.java
index 4db453c9b7f..a6ef4fa289c 100644
--- a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/reflect/InvocationTargetException.java
+++ b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/reflect/InvocationTargetException.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1996, 2020, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1996, 2022, 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
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public class InvocationTargetException extends ReflectiveOperationException {
      * @serial
      *
      */
-    private Throwable target;
+    private final Throwable target;
 
     /**
      * Constructs an {@code InvocationTargetException} with
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ public class InvocationTargetException extends ReflectiveOperationException {
      */
     protected InvocationTargetException() {
         super((Throwable)null);  // Disallow initCause
+        this.target = null;
     }
 
     /**