diff -r 06ad65d6fab5 java.source/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/api/java/source/gen/ModifiersTest.java
--- a/java.source/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/api/java/source/gen/ModifiersTest.java	Sat May 16 19:07:21 2009 +0200
+++ b/java.source/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/api/java/source/gen/ModifiersTest.java	Sun May 24 15:34:12 2009 +0100
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 import com.sun.source.tree.ModifiersTree;
 import com.sun.source.tree.NewArrayTree;
 import com.sun.source.tree.Tree;
+import com.sun.source.tree.Tree.Kind;
 import com.sun.source.tree.TypeParameterTree;
 import com.sun.source.tree.VariableTree;
 import com.sun.source.util.TreeScanner;
@@ -1492,6 +1493,50 @@
         assertEquals(golden, res);
     }
     
+    // created with
+    // cat test/unit/src/Test.java | sed 's|"|\\"|g' | sed 's/$/\\n" +/g' | sed 's/^/"/'
+    public void test159981() throws Exception {
+        String test =
+                "@interface A1 { }\n" +
+                "@interface A2 { }\n" +
+                "class Test2 {\n" +
+                "    @A1\n" +
+                "    |@A2\n" +
+                "    static void m() { }\n" +
+                "}\n";
+        String golden = test.replace("|", "");
+        File file = new File(getWorkDir(), "Test.java");
+        final int index = test.indexOf("|");
+        assertTrue(index != -1);
+        TestUtilities.copyStringToFile(file, test.replace("|", ""));
+        JavaSource src = getJavaSource(file);
+        Task<WorkingCopy> task = new Task<WorkingCopy>() {
+
+            public void run(WorkingCopy copy) throws Exception {
+                if (copy.toPhase(Phase.RESOLVED).compareTo(Phase.RESOLVED) < 0) {
+                    return;
+                }
+                Tree node = copy.getTreeUtilities().pathFor(index).getLeaf();
+                assertEquals(Kind.MODIFIERS, node.getKind());
+                ModifiersTree original = (ModifiersTree) node;
+                TreeMaker make = copy.getTreeMaker();
+                System.out.println("original: " + original);
+                List<AnnotationTree> ann2 = new ArrayList<AnnotationTree>();
+                ann2.addAll(original.getAnnotations());
+                // the reverse ordering breaks things
+                Collections.reverse(ann2);
+                Set<Modifier> fla2 = original.getFlags();
+                ModifiersTree modified = make.Modifiers(fla2, ann2);
+                System.out.println("modified: " + modified);
+                copy.rewrite(original, modified);
+            }
+        };
+        src.runModificationTask(task).commit();
+        String res = TestUtilities.copyFileToString(file);
+        System.out.println(res);
+        assertEquals(golden, res);
+    }
+
     String getGoldenPckg() {
         return "";
     }