diff --git a/java8/pom.xml b/java8/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..37433fb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java8/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+
+	<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+	<artifactId>spring-data-java8-stub</artifactId>
+
+	<parent>
+		<groupId>org.springframework.data.build</groupId>
+		<artifactId>spring-data-build</artifactId>
+		<version>1.4.0.BUILD-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	</parent>
+
+	<name>Spring Data Build - Java 8 Stubs</name>
+
+	<build>
+		<plugins>
+			<plugin>
+				<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+				<version>3.1</version>
+				<configuration>
+					<source>1.6</source>
+					<target>1.6</target>
+				</configuration>
+			</plugin>
+		</plugins>
+	</build>
+
+</project>
diff --git a/java8/src/main/java/java/util/Optional.java b/java8/src/main/java/java/util/Optional.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..087a3456
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java8/src/main/java/java/util/Optional.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package java.util;
+
+/**
+ * Stub implementation of JDK 8's {@link Optional}.
+ * 
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
+ */
+@SuppressWarnings("unused")
+public final class Optional<T> {
+
+	private static final Optional<?> EMPTY = new Optional<Object>(null);
+
+	private final T value;
+
+	private Optional(T value) {
+		this.value = value;
+	}
+
+	public static <T> Optional<T> of(T value) {
+		return new Optional<T>(value);
+	}
+
+	public static <T> Optional<T> ofNullable(T value) {
+		return value == null ? Optional.<T> empty() : of(value);
+	}
+
+	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	public static <T> Optional<T> empty() {
+		Optional<T> t = (Optional<T>) EMPTY;
+		return t;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index ac3c1198..96f26be8 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 	<modules>
 		<module>resources</module>
+		<module>java8</module>
 		<module>parent</module>
 		<module>bom</module>
 	</modules>