diff --git a/main/shared/data/security.policy b/main/shared/data/security.policy
index 74c20e7..415b85d 100644
--- a/main/shared/data/security.policy
+++ b/main/shared/data/security.policy
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 //#
 //#*******************************************************************************
-//#* Copyright (C) 1997-2011, International Business Machines Corporation and    *
+//#* Copyright (C) 1997-2015, International Business Machines Corporation and    *
 //#* others. All Rights Reserved.                                                *
 //#*******************************************************************************
 //#* This is the ant build file for ICU4J.  See readme.html for more information.
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 
     // for testing lenient decimal/group separator parsing
     permission java.util.PropertyPermission "com.ibm.icu.text.DecimalFormat.SkipExtendedSeparatorParsing", "write";
+
+    // for setting the default time zone by the test framework
+    permission java.util.PropertyPermission "user.timezone", "write";
 };
 
 // there must be a way for code in one jar file to call code in another jar