diff --git a/src/runtime/java/jpgf.c b/src/runtime/java/jpgf.c
index b22638cb5..757667c75 100644
--- a/src/runtime/java/jpgf.c
+++ b/src/runtime/java/jpgf.c
@@ -129,12 +129,6 @@ Java_org_grammaticalframework_pgf_PGF_getStartCat(JNIEnv* env, jobject self)
 	return jname;
 }
 
-JNIEXPORT void JNICALL 
-Java_org_grammaticalframework_pgf_PGF_free(JNIEnv* env, jclass cls, jlong pool)
-{
-	gu_pool_free((GuPool*) pool);
-}
-
 typedef struct {
 	GuMapItor fn;
 	JNIEnv *env;
diff --git a/src/runtime/java/org/grammaticalframework/pgf/PGF.java b/src/runtime/java/org/grammaticalframework/pgf/PGF.java
index 6bbe5590a..d97a952a2 100644
--- a/src/runtime/java/org/grammaticalframework/pgf/PGF.java
+++ b/src/runtime/java/org/grammaticalframework/pgf/PGF.java
@@ -26,24 +26,13 @@ public class PGF {
 
 	//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 	// private stuff
-	
-	private static native void free(long pool);
-
-	private long pool;
+	private Pool pool;
 	private long ref;
 
 	private PGF(long pool, long ref) {
-		this.pool = pool;
+		this.pool = new Pool(pool);
 		this.ref  = ref;
 	}
-
-	protected void finalize () throws Throwable {
-		if (pool != 0) {
-			free(pool);
-			pool = 0;
-			ref = 0;
-		}
-	}
 	
 	static { 
          System.loadLibrary("jpgf");