private static <K, V> Hashtable<K, V> newHashTable(Object... pairs) {
    assert pairs.length % 2 == 0;
    Hashtable<K, V> table = new Hashtable<>();
    for (int i = 0; i < pairs.length; i += 2) {
      // Null values are not allowed, because Bugzilla reacts unexpectedly on them.
      if (pairs[i + 1] != null) {
        table.put((K)pairs[i], (V)pairs[i + 1]);
      }
    }
    return table;
  }
private static <K, V> Hashtable<K, V> newHashTable(Object... pairs)