Troubleshooting: icu4j classes log error after upgrading WebSphere Application Server

Upgrading to WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5.18 or greater cause icu4j classes to log errors.

Problem

After upgrading to WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5.18 or greater, an error similar to the following appears:
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid version number: Version number may be negative or greater than 255 
at com.ibm.icu.util.VersionInfo.getInstance(VersionInfo.java:188) 
at com.ibm.icu.impl.ICUDebug.getInstanceLenient(ICUDebug.java:65) 
at com.ibm.icu.impl.ICUDebug.<clinit>(ICUDebug.java:69) ... 40 more

Solution

Downgrade to WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5.17 or below.