diff --git a/docs/manual/creating-a-checker.tex b/docs/manual/creating-a-checker.tex
index 166d77f01d5c..8767517618b8 100644
--- a/docs/manual/creating-a-checker.tex
+++ b/docs/manual/creating-a-checker.tex
@@ -1987,6 +1987,11 @@
 While creating a stub file, you may find the debugging options described in
 Section~\ref{stub-troubleshooting} useful.
 
+\item
+  If you want to use an external annotated JDK .jar file, you can specify it when you run the checker:
+  \begin{Verbatim}
+    javac -J-Dchecker.annotated.jdk.jar=/path/to/annotated-jdk.jar -processor <YourChecker>  ...
+  \end{Verbatim}
 \end{itemize}
 
 
diff --git a/framework/build.gradle b/framework/build.gradle
index f6327d3c32d4..6c9c23a84efa 100644
--- a/framework/build.gradle
+++ b/framework/build.gradle
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ task copyAndMinimizeAnnotatedJdkFiles(type: JavaExec, dependsOn: cloneAnnotatedJ
     dependsOn ':javacutil:jar'
     dependsOn ':dataflow:jar'
     def inputDir = "${annotatedJdkHome}/src"
-    def outputDir = "${buildDir}/generated/resources/annotated-jdk/"
+    def outputDir = "${buildDir}/generated/annotated-jdk/"
 
     description = "Copy annotated JDK files to ${outputDir}. Removes private and package-private methods, method bodies, comments, etc. from the annotated JDK"
 
@@ -119,6 +119,22 @@ task copyAndMinimizeAnnotatedJdkFiles(type: JavaExec, dependsOn: cloneAnnotatedJ
     args outputDir
 
     doFirst {
+        if (project.hasProperty('annotatedJdkBranch')) {
+            def repoDir = file(annotatedJdkHome)
+            exec {
+                workingDir repoDir
+                commandLine 'git', 'fetch', '--all', '--tags'
+            }
+            exec {
+                workingDir repoDir
+                commandLine 'git', 'checkout', project.property('annotatedJdkBranch')
+            }
+            exec {
+                workingDir repoDir
+                commandLine 'git', 'pull', '--ff-only'
+            }
+        }
+
         FileTree tree = fileTree(dir: inputDir)
         NavigableSet<String> annotatedForFiles = new TreeSet<>();
         // Populate `annotatedForFiles`.
@@ -145,8 +161,17 @@ task copyAndMinimizeAnnotatedJdkFiles(type: JavaExec, dependsOn: cloneAnnotatedJ
     }
 }
 
-sourcesJar.dependsOn(copyAndMinimizeAnnotatedJdkFiles)
-processResources.dependsOn(copyAndMinimizeAnnotatedJdkFiles)
+
+task annotatedJdkJar(type: Jar, dependsOn: copyAndMinimizeAnnotatedJdkFiles, group: 'Build') {
+    description = 'Packages the generated annotated JDK stubs into annotated-jdk.jar at the repository root'
+    destinationDirectory = rootProject.layout.projectDirectory.dir("checker/dist");
+    archiveFileName = 'annotated-jdk.jar'
+    from("${buildDir}/generated/annotated-jdk") {
+        into 'annotated-jdk'
+    }
+}
+
+processResources.dependsOn(annotatedJdkJar)
 
 task allSourcesJar(type: Jar, group: 'Build') {
     description = 'Creates a sources jar that includes sources for all Checker Framework classes in framework.jar'
diff --git a/framework/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/framework/stub/AnnotationFileElementTypes.java b/framework/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/framework/stub/AnnotationFileElementTypes.java
index ebd0c8912375..e190ebe44407 100644
--- a/framework/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/framework/stub/AnnotationFileElementTypes.java
+++ b/framework/src/main/java/org/checkerframework/framework/stub/AnnotationFileElementTypes.java
@@ -857,13 +857,50 @@ private void parseJdkJarEntry(String jarEntryName) {
         }
     }
 
+    private final URL getAnnotatedJDKResourceURL(String resourcePath) {
+        try {
+            URL resourceURL = null;
+            File externalJdkFile = new File(resourcePath);
+            if (externalJdkFile.exists()) {
+                resourceURL =
+                        new URL(
+                                "jar:file:"
+                                        + externalJdkFile.getAbsolutePath()
+                                        + "!/annotated-jdk");
+            }
+            return resourceURL;
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            if (stubDebug) {
+                System.out.printf(
+                        "Failed to load external annotated JDK from %s: %s%n",
+                        resourcePath, e.getMessage());
+            }
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns a JarURLConnection to "/jdk*".
      *
      * @return a JarURLConnection to "/jdk*"
      */
     private JarURLConnection getJarURLConnectionToJdk() {
-        URL resourceURL = atypeFactory.getClass().getResource("/annotated-jdk");
+        // First, try to use the external annotated-jdk.jar file if specified
+        String pathFromProperty = System.getProperty("checker.annotated.jdk.jar");
+        URL resourceURL = getAnnotatedJDKResourceURL(pathFromProperty);
+        if (resourceURL == null) {
+            // Get the location of checker.jar
+            URL location =
+                    atypeFactory.getClass().getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation();
+            try {
+                Path checkerDir = Paths.get(location.toURI()).getParent();
+                String annotatedJarPath = checkerDir.resolve("annotated-jdk.jar").toString();
+                resourceURL = getAnnotatedJDKResourceURL(annotatedJarPath);
+            } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
+                throw new BugInCF("Cannot parse URL: " + location.toString(), e);
+            }
+        }
+
         JarURLConnection connection;
         try {
             connection = (JarURLConnection) resourceURL.openConnection();