diff --git a/bin/ruby-build b/bin/ruby-build
index fced4b51..46b7d84e 100755
--- a/bin/ruby-build
+++ b/bin/ruby-build
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ fix_rbx_irb() {
 }
 
 require_java7() {
-  local version="$(java -version 2>&1 | head -1)"
+  local version="$(java -version 2>&1 | grep 'java version' | head -1)"
   if [[ $version != *1.[789]* ]]; then
     colorize 1 "ERROR" >&3
     echo ": Java 7 required. Please install a 1.7-compatible JRE." >&3
diff --git a/test/build.bats b/test/build.bats
index d88083b9..037d95db 100644
--- a/test/build.bats
+++ b/test/build.bats
@@ -589,6 +589,18 @@ DEF
   assert_success
 }
 
+@test "Java version string not on first line" {
+  cached_tarball "jruby-9000.dev" bin/jruby
+
+  stub java "-version : echo 'Picked up JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS' >&2; echo 'java version \"1.8.0_31\"' >&2"
+
+  run_inline_definition <<DEF
+require_java7
+install_package "jruby-9000.dev" "http://ci.jruby.org/jruby-dist-9000.dev-bin.tar.gz" jruby
+DEF
+  assert_success
+}
+
 @test "non-writable TMPDIR aborts build" {
   export TMPDIR="${TMP}/build"
   mkdir -p "$TMPDIR"