For future reference in case anybody finds this thread: public class SomeServlet extends HttpServlet { private static ClassLoader myClassloader; public init(ServletConfig cfg) { myClassloader = getClass().getClassLoader(); } } This servlet breaks context reloading in Tomcat, the context leaks a WebappClassloader per reload (and therefore other static variable values, so it can be a lot of memory that is never freed). Since many frameworks (Hibernate, Struts, etc.) use such a pattern, reloading in Tomcat can be considered currently broken. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=3961535#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...