diff --git a/backend.native/build.gradle b/backend.native/build.gradle
index f0e7e1d694b..b4e4c363497 100644
--- a/backend.native/build.gradle
+++ b/backend.native/build.gradle
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.konan.target.HostManager
+
 /*
  * Copyright 2010-2018 JetBrains s.r.o. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license
  * that can be found in the LICENSE file.
@@ -208,12 +210,12 @@ task teamcityPublishStdLibSources {
 // konan.home, --runtime, -Djava.library.path etc
 
 targetList.each { target ->
-    def konanJvmArgs = ["-ea", "-Xmx3G",
-                        "-Dkonan.home=${rootProject.projectDir}",
-                        "-Djava.library.path=${project.buildDir}/nativelibs/$hostName",
-                        "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8"]
+    def konanJvmArgs =  [*HostManager.regularJvmArgs,
+            "-Dkonan.home=${rootProject.projectDir}",
+            "-Djava.library.path=${project.buildDir}/nativelibs/$hostName",
+    ]
 
-    def defaultArgs = ['-nopack', '-nostdlib', '-nodefaultlibs', '-ea']
+    def defaultArgs = ['-nopack', '-nostdlib', '-nodefaultlibs']
     if (target != "wasm32") defaultArgs += '-g'
     def konanArgs = [*defaultArgs,
                      '-target', target,
diff --git a/cmd/run_konan b/cmd/run_konan
index 65f59e4c855..5328c6f8d95 100755
--- a/cmd/run_konan
+++ b/cmd/run_konan
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ NATIVE_LIB="${KONAN_HOME}/konan/nativelib"
 
 java_opts=(-ea \
             -Xmx3G \
+            -XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1 \
             "-Djava.library.path=${NATIVE_LIB}" \
             "-Dkonan.home=${KONAN_HOME}" \
             -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 \
diff --git a/cmd/run_konan.bat b/cmd/run_konan.bat
index 9c87759cb06..8a6afdfb6f7 100644
--- a/cmd/run_konan.bat
+++ b/cmd/run_konan.bat
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ set "KONAN_CLASSPATH=%KOTLIN_JAR%;%KOTLIN_STDLIB_JAR%;%KOTLIN_REFLECT_JAR%;%KOTL
 
 set JAVA_OPTS=-ea ^
     -Xmx3G ^
+    -XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1 ^
     "-Djava.library.path=%NATIVE_LIB%" ^
     "-Dkonan.home=%_KONAN_HOME%" ^
     -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 ^
diff --git a/platformLibs/build.gradle b/platformLibs/build.gradle
index 3fc1ddeb100..015b115bb89 100644
--- a/platformLibs/build.gradle
+++ b/platformLibs/build.gradle
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.KlibInstall
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.konan.target.*
-import org.jetbrains.kotlin.konan.target.KonanTarget
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.konan.util.*
 
 import static org.jetbrains.kotlin.konan.util.VisibleNamedKt.getVisibleName
@@ -22,7 +21,8 @@ buildscript {
     }
 
     ext.konanHome = distDir.absolutePath
-    ext.jvmArgs = project.findProperty("platformLibsJvmArgs") ?: "-Xmx6G"
+    def jvmArguments = [project.findProperty("platformLibsJvmArgs") ?: "-Xmx6G", *HostManager.defaultJvmArgs]
+    ext.jvmArgs = jvmArguments.join(" ")
     ext.setProperty("konan.home", konanHome)
     ext.setProperty("konan.jvmArgs", jvmArgs)
 }
diff --git a/shared/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/konan/target/KonanTarget.kt b/shared/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/konan/target/KonanTarget.kt
index 9a721a4365f..f1da2575fc2 100644
--- a/shared/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/konan/target/KonanTarget.kt
+++ b/shared/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/konan/target/KonanTarget.kt
@@ -249,6 +249,10 @@ open class HostManager(protected val distribution: Distribution = Distribution()
             else -> throw TargetSupportException("Unknown host target: ${host_os()} ${host_arch()}")
         }
 
+        // Note Hotspot-specific VM option enforcing C1-only, critical for decent compilation speed.
+        val defaultJvmArgs = listOf("-XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1", "-ea", "-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8")
+        val regularJvmArgs = defaultJvmArgs + "-Xmx3G"
+
         val hostIsMac   = (host.family == Family.OSX)
         val hostIsLinux = (host.family == Family.LINUX)
         val hostIsMingw = (host.family == Family.MINGW)
diff --git a/tools/kotlin-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/konan/KonanToolRunner.kt b/tools/kotlin-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/konan/KonanToolRunner.kt
index 1974b76e5ca..8cfa8ab94f7 100644
--- a/tools/kotlin-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/konan/KonanToolRunner.kt
+++ b/tools/kotlin-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/konan/KonanToolRunner.kt
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ internal abstract class KonanCliRunner(
             project.fileTree("${project.konanHome}/konan/lib/")
             .apply { include("*.jar")  }
 
-    override val jvmArgs = mutableListOf("-ea").apply {
+    override val jvmArgs = HostManager.defaultJvmArgs.toMutableList().apply {
         if (additionalJvmArgs.none { it.startsWith("-Xmx") } &&
             project.jvmArgs.none { it.startsWith("-Xmx") }) {
             add("-Xmx3G")