Ubuntu :: Make With Make File Yields Error - /usr/bin/javac: Cannot Execute Binary File

When I try to compile some Java code on Ubuntu 10.10 (kernel 2.6+) using make and a Makefile.

I get an error indicating that the make utility cannot execute the java compile command (javac).

The error reads: /bin/bash: line 6: .: /usr/local/jdk1.5.0_18/bin/javac: cannot execute binary file

I am executing make as root. I have enabled permissions on all directories in the path /usr/local/jdk1.5.0_18/bin/javac and on javac itself.

I get this error whether using a jdk installed via ubuntu apt-get, or whether I install the jdk myself. And I get it using either Java 1.5 or 1.6

My machine has an 80386 processor. I notice the make utility is built for i686-pc-linux-gnu

However, I can manually compile using javac.

I can compile calling javac from within a bash script.

I can compile using the java compiler gcj from the command line: gcj --main=HelloWorld HelloWorld.java -o HelloWorld.exe

But I cannot compile java code from the makefile. Any reasons why I might be getting this error?