diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ff808e6d..b0bf03d2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ lib/ext
 log/*
 passwd
 server.properties
-
+.gradle
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 57434417..8d9fd97c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ _This is the README file for version 1.7.0 of the Helma Javascript Web Applicati
 
 __TL;DR__  
 
-- make sure you have Java 1.4 or higher as well as Apache Ant installed
-- clone this repository
-- build Helma with `ant jar`
-- invoke `start.sh`, resp. `start.bat`, depending on your platform
-- direct your web browser to http://localhost:8080
+- Make sure you have Java 1.4 or higher installed
+- Clone this repository
+- Build Helma with `./gradlew`
+- Invoke `start.sh`, resp. `start.bat`, depending on your platform
+- Direct your web browser to http://localhost:8080
 
 # Helma
 
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 430d7c6d..8f22cf89 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ dependencies {
   compile group: 'org.eclipse.jetty', name: 'jetty-servlet', version: '8.1.22.v20160922'
   compile group: 'org.eclipse.jetty', name: 'jetty-xml', version: '8.1.22.v20160922'
   compile group: 'javax.mail', name: 'mail', version: '1.4.7'
-  compile group: 'org.mozilla', name: 'rhino', version: '1.7R5'
+  compile group: 'org.mozilla', name: 'rhino', version: '1.7.7.1'
   compile group: 'org.ccil.cowan.tagsoup', name: 'tagsoup', version: '1.2.1'
   compile group: 'xmlrpc', name: 'xmlrpc', version: '2.0.1'
 }
diff --git a/lib/rhino-1.7.7.1.jar b/lib/rhino-1.7.7.1.jar
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a8b9417a
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/rhino-1.7.7.1.jar differ
diff --git a/lib/rhino-1.7R5.jar b/lib/rhino-1.7R5.jar
deleted file mode 100644
index 76b6eaed..00000000
Binary files a/lib/rhino-1.7R5.jar and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/src/helma/framework/ResponseBean.java b/src/helma/framework/ResponseBean.java
index 47e3b751..0217fde9 100644
--- a/src/helma/framework/ResponseBean.java
+++ b/src/helma/framework/ResponseBean.java
@@ -203,8 +203,10 @@ public class ResponseBean implements Serializable {
      *
      * @param str the string to write to the response buffer
      */
-    public void write(String str) {
-        res.write(str);
+    public void write(String... str) {
+        for (String s : str) {
+            res.write(s);
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -212,8 +214,10 @@ public class ResponseBean implements Serializable {
      *
      * @param str the string to write to the response buffer
      */
-    public void writeln(String str) {
-        res.writeln(str);
+    public void writeln(String... str) {
+        for (String s : str) {
+            res.writeln(s);
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -237,8 +241,10 @@ public class ResponseBean implements Serializable {
      *
      * @param message the message
      */
-    public void debug(String message) {
-        res.debug(message);
+    public void debug(String... messages) {
+        for (String message : messages) {
+            res.debug(message);
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/helma/framework/ResponseTrans.java b/src/helma/framework/ResponseTrans.java
index 4ec26c70..e650e2c0 100644
--- a/src/helma/framework/ResponseTrans.java
+++ b/src/helma/framework/ResponseTrans.java
@@ -377,8 +377,7 @@ public final class ResponseTrans extends Writer implements Serializable {
 
         String str = (message == null) ? "null" : message.toString();
 
-        debugBuffer.append("<div class=\"helma-debug-line\" style=\"background: yellow; ");
-        debugBuffer.append("color: black; border-top: 1px solid black;\">");
+        debugBuffer.append("<div class=\"helma-debug-line\">");
         debugBuffer.append(str);
         debugBuffer.append("</div>");
     }
diff --git a/src/helma/main/Server.java b/src/helma/main/Server.java
index da90daf1..1ddf8584 100644
--- a/src/helma/main/Server.java
+++ b/src/helma/main/Server.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ import helma.util.ResourceProperties;
  */
 public class Server implements Runnable {
     // version string
-    public static final String version = "1.7.3 (__builddate__)";
+    public static final String version = "🐜 (__builddate__)";
 
     // static server instance
     private static Server server;
diff --git a/src/helma/main/launcher/Main.java b/src/helma/main/launcher/Main.java
index 5f2a94a9..6ed02900 100644
--- a/src/helma/main/launcher/Main.java
+++ b/src/helma/main/launcher/Main.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ import java.util.ArrayList;
  */
 public class Main {
     public static final String[] jars = {
-                                            "helma.jar", "rhino-1.7R5.jar",
+                                            "helma.jar", "rhino-1.7.7.1.jar",
                                             "commons-logging-1.2.jar",
                                             "xmlrpc-2.0.1.jar", "mail-1.4.7.jar", "activation-1.1.jar",
                                             "commons-fileupload-1.3.2.jar", "commons-codec-1-10.jar",
diff --git a/src/helma/scripting/rhino/PathWrapper.java b/src/helma/scripting/rhino/PathWrapper.java
index 7a86cab4..406c615f 100644
--- a/src/helma/scripting/rhino/PathWrapper.java
+++ b/src/helma/scripting/rhino/PathWrapper.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public class PathWrapper extends ScriptableObject {
     /**
      * Zero arg constructor for creating the PathWrapper prototype.
      */
-    public PathWrapper (RhinoCore core) throws PropertyException, NoSuchMethodException {
+    public PathWrapper (RhinoCore core) throws RhinoException, NoSuchMethodException {
         this.core = core;
         // create a dummy path object
         this.path = new RequestPath(core.app);
diff --git a/src/helma/scripting/rhino/RhinoCore.java b/src/helma/scripting/rhino/RhinoCore.java
index 49cd229c..46c1d57f 100644
--- a/src/helma/scripting/rhino/RhinoCore.java
+++ b/src/helma/scripting/rhino/RhinoCore.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import helma.objectmodel.db.DbMapping;
 import helma.objectmodel.db.NodeHandle;
 import helma.scripting.*;
 import helma.util.*;
+
 import org.mozilla.javascript.Context;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.ContextAction;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.ContextFactory;
@@ -42,9 +43,12 @@ import org.mozilla.javascript.ScriptRuntime;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.Undefined;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.WrapFactory;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.Wrapper;
+import org.mozilla.javascript.commonjs.module.RequireBuilder;
+import org.mozilla.javascript.commonjs.module.provider.*;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.tools.debugger.ScopeProvider;
 
 import java.io.*;
+import java.net.URI;
 import java.text.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
@@ -89,9 +93,9 @@ public final class RhinoCore implements ScopeProvider {
     // optimization level for rhino engine, ranges from -1 to 9
     int optLevel = 0;
 
-    // language version - default to JS 1.7
-    int languageVersion = 170;
-    
+    // language version - default to JS 1.8
+    int languageVersion = 180;
+
     // debugger/tracer flags
     boolean hasDebugger = false;
     boolean hasTracer = false;
@@ -157,6 +161,27 @@ public final class RhinoCore implements ScopeProvider {
             global.initStandardObjects(context, false);
             global.init();
 
+            // Enable loading and exporting of CommonJS modules with require and module.exports, resp.
+            // Inspiration: http://stackoverflow.com/a/30355409/5281580
+
+            List<URI> commonJsPaths = new ArrayList<URI>();
+            commonJsPaths.add(app.getAppDir().toURI());
+            String commonJsAppPath = app.getProperty("commonjs.dir");
+
+            if (commonJsAppPath != null) {
+                File commonJsAppDir = new File(app.getAppDir(), commonJsAppPath);
+                if (commonJsAppDir.isDirectory()) {
+                    commonJsPaths.add(commonJsAppDir.toURI());
+                }
+            }
+
+            new RequireBuilder()
+                .setModuleScriptProvider(new StrongCachingModuleScriptProvider(
+                    new UrlModuleSourceProvider(commonJsPaths, null)))
+                .setSandboxed(true)
+                .createRequire(context, global)
+                .install(global);
+
             pathProto = new PathWrapper(this);
 
             hopObjectProto =  HopObject.init(this);
@@ -816,7 +841,7 @@ public final class RhinoCore implements ScopeProvider {
             }
         }
         return props;
-    }    
+    }
 
     /**
      * Get the RhinoCore instance associated with the current thread, or null
@@ -1207,6 +1232,7 @@ public final class RhinoCore implements ScopeProvider {
             } else {
                 app.logError("Unsupported rhino.languageVersion: " + languageVersion);
             }
+
             // Set up visual debugger if rhino.debug = true
             if (hasDebugger)
                 initDebugger(cx);