A diallel cross of five accessions was used to estimate general and specific combining ability for nine traits in Glycine javanica L. Variation due to both general and specific combining ability was highly significant but the general combining ability component of variance was larger than the specific combining ability component for flowering time, maturity date, and seed weight. For yield, stolon length, stolon number, and percentage of stolons rooted the specific combining ability component was the larger. The cultivar Tinaroo had a high general combining ability and a low specific combining ability for most traits associated with forage yield and should be a valuable parent in future breeding programmes. Negative genetic correlations between yield and some traits associated with stolon development indicate that it may not be possible to produce a variety with all desirable characters from a breeding programme based on the five accessions used.