diff --git a/jdk/src/share/classes/java/security/cert/CertPathValidatorException.java b/jdk/src/share/classes/java/security/cert/CertPathValidatorException.java
index 8a04aeff5f3..c1ca1d2b8de 100644
--- a/jdk/src/share/classes/java/security/cert/CertPathValidatorException.java
+++ b/jdk/src/share/classes/java/security/cert/CertPathValidatorException.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public class CertPathValidatorException extends GeneralSecurityException {
      * permitted, and indicates that the cause is nonexistent or unknown.)
      */
     public CertPathValidatorException(Throwable cause) {
-        this(null, cause);
+        this((cause == null ? null : cause.toString()), cause);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/jdk/test/java/security/cert/CertPathValidatorException/GetMessage.java b/jdk/test/java/security/cert/CertPathValidatorException/GetMessage.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dd51af7e42c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jdk/test/java/security/cert/CertPathValidatorException/GetMessage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  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 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
+ * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
+ * have any questions.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * @test
+ * @bug 6765046
+ * @summary check that getMessage(cause) returns cause.toString if cause != null
+ */
+
+import java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException;
+
+public class GetMessage {
+    private static volatile boolean failed = false;
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+
+        Throwable[] causes = {
+                new Throwable(),
+                new Throwable("message"),
+                new Throwable("message", new Throwable()) };
+
+        for (Throwable cause: causes) {
+            CertPathValidatorException cpve =
+                new CertPathValidatorException(cause);
+
+            // from CertPathValidatorException(Throwable cause) spec:
+            // The detail message is set to (cause==null ? null : cause.toString() )
+            // (which typically contains the class and detail message of cause).
+            String expMsg = (cause == null ? null : cause.toString());
+            String actualMsg = cpve.getMessage();
+
+            boolean msgsEqual =
+                (expMsg == null ? actualMsg == null : expMsg.equals(actualMsg));
+            if (!msgsEqual) {
+                System.out.println("expected message:" + expMsg);
+                System.out.println("getMessage():" + actualMsg);
+                failed = true;
+            }
+        }
+        if (failed) {
+            throw new Exception("Some tests FAILED");
+        }
+    }
+}