diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/BurmeseBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/BurmeseBreakEngine.java
index 3447945b6d95..2ed8af3b7765 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/BurmeseBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/BurmeseBreakEngine.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public int hashCode() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
+    public boolean handles(int c) {
         int script = UCharacter.getIntPropertyValue(c, UProperty.SCRIPT);
         return (script == UScript.MYANMAR);
     }
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/DictionaryBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/DictionaryBreakEngine.java
index 2e2bb62ed163..6d490aed4cf3 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/DictionaryBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/DictionaryBreakEngine.java
@@ -178,7 +178,12 @@ public DictionaryBreakEngine() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
+    public boolean isFor(ULocale locale) {
+        return true; // by default, we handle all locales.
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean handles(int c) {
         return fSet.contains(c);        // we recognize the character
     }
 
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/KhmerBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/KhmerBreakEngine.java
index 675891ba75bf..8629bb5804b4 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/KhmerBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/KhmerBreakEngine.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public int hashCode() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
+    public boolean handles(int c) {
         int script = UCharacter.getIntPropertyValue(c, UProperty.SCRIPT);
         return (script == UScript.KHMER);
     }
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LSTMBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LSTMBreakEngine.java
index 9a5568467385..ec29a5fd8362 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LSTMBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LSTMBreakEngine.java
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ public int hashCode() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
+    public boolean handles(int c) {
         return fScript == UCharacter.getIntPropertyValue(c, UProperty.SCRIPT);
     }
 
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LanguageBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LanguageBreakEngine.java
index f6059d68ad93..801f05882348 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LanguageBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LanguageBreakEngine.java
@@ -18,10 +18,15 @@
 public interface LanguageBreakEngine {
     /**
      * @param c A Unicode codepoint value
-     * @param locale A locale
      * @return true if the engine can handle this character, false otherwise
      */
-    boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale);
+    boolean handles(int c);
+
+    /**
+     * @param locale A locale
+     * @return true if the engine is for this Locale, false otherwise
+     */
+    boolean isFor(ULocale locale);
 
     /**
      * Implements the actual breaking logic. Find any breaks within a run in the supplied text.
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LaoBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LaoBreakEngine.java
index fdd0c0b33319..97c1dda351a7 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LaoBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/LaoBreakEngine.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public int hashCode() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
+    public boolean handles(int c) {
         int script = UCharacter.getIntPropertyValue(c, UProperty.SCRIPT);
         return (script == UScript.LAO);
     }
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/ThaiBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/ThaiBreakEngine.java
index d513cb4b8d5b..3acf252116cf 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/ThaiBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/ThaiBreakEngine.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public int hashCode() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
+    public boolean handles(int c) {
         int script = UCharacter.getIntPropertyValue(c, UProperty.SCRIPT);
         return (script == UScript.THAI);
     }
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/UnhandledBreakEngine.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/UnhandledBreakEngine.java
index dbdbf2fa293b..f2c54919eca7 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/UnhandledBreakEngine.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/impl/breakiter/UnhandledBreakEngine.java
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ public UnhandledBreakEngine() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
+    public boolean isFor(ULocale locale) {
+        return true;  // Handle all locales
+    }
+    @Override
+    public boolean handles(int c) {
         return fHandled.contains(c);
     }
 
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java
index ea72c02bdd4e..b08db7acf3c5 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/main/java/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ private LanguageBreakEngine getLanguageBreakEngine(int c) {
         // We have a dictionary character.
         // Does an already instantiated break engine handle it?
         for (LanguageBreakEngine candidate : fBreakEngines) {
-            if (candidate.handles(c, getRequestedLocale())) {
+            if (candidate.isFor(getRequestedLocale()) && candidate.handles(c)) {
                 return candidate;
             }
         }
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ private LanguageBreakEngine getLanguageBreakEngine(int c) {
             // Check the global list, another break iterator may have instantiated the
             // desired engine.
             for (LanguageBreakEngine candidate : gAllBreakEngines) {
-                if (candidate.handles(c, getRequestedLocale())) {
+                if (candidate.isFor(getRequestedLocale()) && candidate.handles(c)) {
                     fBreakEngines.add(candidate);
                     return candidate;
                 }
@@ -1094,8 +1094,12 @@ public static void registerExternalBreakEngine(ExternalBreakEngine engine) {
         synchronized(gAllBreakEngines) {
             gAllBreakEngines.add(0, new LanguageBreakEngine() {
                 @Override
-                public boolean handles(int c, ULocale locale) {
-                   return engine.isFor(c, locale);
+                public boolean handles(int c) {
+                   return engine.handles(c);
+                }
+                @Override
+                public boolean isFor(ULocale locale) {
+                   return engine.isFor(locale);
                 }
                 @Override
                 public int findBreaks(CharacterIterator text, int startPos, int endPos,
@@ -1917,15 +1921,14 @@ void dumpCache() {
 
     public interface ExternalBreakEngine {
         /**
-         * <p>Indicate whether this engine handles a particular character when
-         * the RuleBasedBreakIterator is used for a particular locale. This method is used
-         * by the RuleBasedBreakIterator to find a break engine.</p>
-         * @param c A character which begins a run that the engine might handle.
+         * <p>Indicate whether this engine is used for a particular locale.
+         * This method is used by the RuleBasedBreakIterator to find a break engine.</p>
+         *
          * @param locale    The locale.
          * @return true if this engine handles the particular character for that locale.
          * @internal ICU 75 technology preview
          */
-        public boolean isFor(int c, ULocale locale);
+        public boolean isFor(ULocale locale);
 
         /**
          * <p>Indicate whether this engine handles a particular character.This method is
diff --git a/icu4j/main/core/src/test/java/com/ibm/icu/dev/test/rbbi/RBBITest.java b/icu4j/main/core/src/test/java/com/ibm/icu/dev/test/rbbi/RBBITest.java
index 3410455c8983..5889c2170d89 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/core/src/test/java/com/ibm/icu/dev/test/rbbi/RBBITest.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/core/src/test/java/com/ibm/icu/dev/test/rbbi/RBBITest.java
@@ -1023,10 +1023,10 @@ public void TestExternalBreakEngineWithFakeYue() {
         RuleBasedBreakIterator.registerExternalBreakEngine(
             new RuleBasedBreakIterator.ExternalBreakEngine() {
                 UnicodeSet block = new UnicodeSet(0x4e00, 0x9FFF);
-                public boolean isFor(int c, ULocale locale) {
+                public boolean isFor(ULocale locale) {
                     // We implmement this for any locale with "yue" such as
                     // "yue", "yue-CN", "yue-Hant-CN", etc.
-                    return handles(c) && locale.getLanguage().equals("yue");
+                    return locale.getLanguage().equals("yue");
                 }
                 public boolean handles(int c) {
                     return block.contains(c);
@@ -1076,8 +1076,8 @@ public void TestExternalBreakEngineWithFakeTaiLe() {
             new RuleBasedBreakIterator.ExternalBreakEngine() {
                 UnicodeSet block = new UnicodeSet(0x1950, 0x197f);
                 UnicodeSet tones = new UnicodeSet(0x1970, 0x1974);
-                public boolean isFor(int c, ULocale locale) {
-                    return handles(c);
+                public boolean isFor(ULocale locale) {
+                    return true; // Handle all locales
                 }
                 public boolean handles(int c) {
                     return block.contains(c);