diff --git a/common.js b/common.js
index f66798e44..153af3d6f 100644
--- a/common.js
+++ b/common.js
@@ -405,11 +405,11 @@ export function setupPath(newPathEntries) {
   return msys2Type
 }
 
-export async function setupJavaHome() {
+export async function setupJavaHome(rubyPrefix) {
   await measure("Modifying JAVA_HOME for JRuby", async () => {
     console.log("attempting to run with existing JAVA_HOME")
 
-    let ret = await exec.exec('ruby', ['--version'])
+    let ret = await exec.exec('java', ['-jar', path.join(rubyPrefix, 'lib/jruby.jar'), '--version'], {ignoreReturnCode: true})
 
     if (ret === 0) {
       console.log("JRuby successfully starts, using existing JAVA_HOME")
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index 1c0de8e91..3777b30df 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -725,11 +725,11 @@ function setupPath(newPathEntries) {
   return msys2Type
 }
 
-async function setupJavaHome() {
+async function setupJavaHome(rubyPrefix) {
   await measure("Modifying JAVA_HOME for JRuby", async () => {
     console.log("attempting to run with existing JAVA_HOME")
 
-    let ret = await exec.exec('ruby', ['--version'])
+    let ret = await exec.exec('java', ['-jar', path.join(rubyPrefix, 'lib/jruby.jar'), '--version'], {ignoreReturnCode: true})
 
     if (ret === 0) {
       console.log("JRuby successfully starts, using existing JAVA_HOME")
@@ -74091,7 +74091,7 @@ async function install(platform, engine, version) {
 
   // Ensure JRuby has minimum Java version to run
   if (engine === "jruby") {
-    await common.setupJavaHome()
+    await common.setupJavaHome(rubyPrefix)
   }
 
   return rubyPrefix
diff --git a/ruby-builder.js b/ruby-builder.js
index 6ec7e191d..ad8682ea1 100644
--- a/ruby-builder.js
+++ b/ruby-builder.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ export async function install(platform, engine, version) {
 
   // Ensure JRuby has minimum Java version to run
   if (engine === "jruby") {
-    await common.setupJavaHome()
+    await common.setupJavaHome(rubyPrefix)
   }
 
   return rubyPrefix