diff --git a/tools/release/java/api-report-config.xml b/tools/release/java/api-report-config.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 8589f2ca28c..00000000000
--- a/tools/release/java/api-report-config.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-<!--
-/*
-*******************************************************************************
-* Copyright (C) 2006, International Business Machines Corporation and    *
-* others. All Rights Reserved.                                                *
-*******************************************************************************
-* This is the ant build file for ICU tools. 
-*/
--->
-<project>
-    <!--
-         A utility to report the status change between two ICU releases
-
-        To use the utility
-        1. Generate the XML files
-            (put the two ICU releases on your machine ^_^ )
-            (generate 'Doxygen' file on Windows platform with Cygwin's help)
-            Edit the generated 'Doxygen' file under ICU4C source directory
-            a) GENERATE_XML           = YES
-            b) Sync the ALIASES definiation
-               (For example, copy the ALIASES defination from ICU 3.6
-               Doxygen file to ICU 3.4 Doxygen file.)
-            c) gerenate the XML files
-        2. Build the tool
-            ant doctools
-        3. Edit the api-report-config.xml file & change the sections marked UPDATE ME  according your real configuration
-        4. Run the tool to generate the report
-            ant apireport
-    -->
-    <target name="apireport" depends="doctools">    
-        <java classname="com.ibm.icu.dev.tools.docs.StableAPI" fork="yes" failonerror="true">
-            
-            <arg value = "--oldver"/>
-            <arg value = "ICU 3.4"/><!-- UPDATE ME -->
-            
-            <arg value = "--olddir"/> 
-            <arg value = "/work/clean/icu-3-4/source/doc/xml/"/> <!-- UPDATE ME -->
-            
-            <arg value = "--newver"/>
-            <arg value = "ICU 3.6"/><!-- UPDATE ME -->
-            
-            <arg value = "--newdir"/>
-            <arg value = "/work/clean/icu-3-6/source/doc/xml/"/><!-- UPDATE ME -->
-            
-            <arg value = "--cppxslt"/>
-            <arg value = "${basedir}/src/com/ibm/icu/dev/tools/docs/dumpAllCppFunc.xslt"/>
-            
-            <arg value = "--cxslt"/>
-            <arg value = "${basedir}/src/com/ibm/icu/dev/tools/docs/dumpAllCFunc.xslt"/>
-            
-            <arg value = "--reportxslt"/>
-            <arg value = "${basedir}/src/com/ibm/icu/dev/tools/docs/genReport.xslt"/>
-            
-            <arg value = "--resultfile"/>
-            <arg value = "${basedir}/APIChangeReport.html"/>
-    
-            <classpath>
-                <pathelement location="${build.dir}"/>
-                <pathelement path="${java.class.path}/"/>
-                <pathelement path="."/>
-            </classpath>
-        </java>
-    </target>
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/release/java/api-report.properties b/tools/release/java/api-report.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..913472f37d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/release/java/api-report.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# api-report.properties contains properties for API report generation
+#update these values to current version and directories
+oldver=ICU 3.4
+olddir=/work/clean/icu-3-4/source/doc/xml/
+newver=ICU 3.6
+newdir=/work/clean/icu-3-6/source/doc/xml/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/release/java/build.xml b/tools/release/java/build.xml
index 3eb19a4189f..8608713b470 100644
--- a/tools/release/java/build.xml
+++ b/tools/release/java/build.xml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
         <property name="build.dir" value="classes"/>
         <property name="jar.file" value="cldr.jar"/>
         <property name="jarSrc.file" value="cldrsrc.jar"/>
-
+        <property file="api-report.properties" />
         
         <mkdir dir="${build.dir}"/>
         <echo message="java home: ${java.home}"/>
@@ -32,9 +32,42 @@
             source="1.4"
             debug="on" deprecation="off"
             encoding="ascii"/>
-    </target>    
-    <import file="api-report-config.xml"/>         
+    </target>             
     <target name="clean" depends="init" description="remove all build targets">
         <delete dir="${build.dir}"/>
     </target>
+    <target name="apireport" depends="doctools">    
+        <java classname="com.ibm.icu.dev.tools.docs.StableAPI" fork="yes" failonerror="true">
+            
+            <arg value = "--oldver"/>
+            <arg value = "${oldver}"/>
+            
+            <arg value = "--olddir"/> 
+            <arg value = "${olddir}"/>
+            
+            <arg value = "--newver"/>
+            <arg value = "${newver}"/>
+            
+            <arg value = "--newdir"/>
+            <arg value = "${newdir}"/>
+            
+            <arg value = "--cppxslt"/>
+            <arg value = "${basedir}/src/com/ibm/icu/dev/tools/docs/dumpAllCppFunc.xslt"/>
+            
+            <arg value = "--cxslt"/>
+            <arg value = "${basedir}/src/com/ibm/icu/dev/tools/docs/dumpAllCFunc.xslt"/>
+            
+            <arg value = "--reportxslt"/>
+            <arg value = "${basedir}/src/com/ibm/icu/dev/tools/docs/genReport.xslt"/>
+            
+            <arg value = "--resultfile"/>
+            <arg value = "${basedir}/APIChangeReport.html"/>
+    
+            <classpath>
+                <pathelement location="${build.dir}"/>
+                <pathelement path="${java.class.path}/"/>
+                <pathelement path="."/>
+            </classpath>
+        </java>
+    </target>
 </project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/release/java/readme.txt b/tools/release/java/readme.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..78c4a2f9e86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/release/java/readme.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+A tool to generate a report of API status changes between two ICU releases
+
+        To use the utility
+        1. Generate the XML files
+            (put the two ICU releases on your machine ^_^ )
+            (generate 'Doxygen' file on Windows platform with Cygwin's help)
+            Edit the generated 'Doxygen' file under ICU4C source directory
+            a) GENERATE_XML           = YES
+            b) Sync the ALIASES definiation
+               (For example, copy the ALIASES defination from ICU 3.6
+               Doxygen file to ICU 3.4 Doxygen file.)
+            c) gerenate the XML files
+        2. Build the tool
+            ant doctools
+        3. Edit the api-report.properties and change the values of oldver, olddir,  newver,  newdir
+        4. Run the tool to generate the report
+            ant apireport
+ 
\ No newline at end of file