apache/maven · error · IllegalStateException

Could not parse current Java version

Error message

Could not parse current Java version

What it means

MavenPluginJavaPrerequisiteChecker.matchesVersion validates a plugin descriptor's requiredJavaVersion against the running JVM. The required side is parsed as a VersionConstraint; the current side is System.getProperty("java.version") parsed with Resolver's GenericVersionScheme. If that property value is null, blank, or otherwise unparseable, Maven cannot even form the comparison and throws IllegalStateException.

Source

Thrown at impl/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/MavenPluginJavaPrerequisiteChecker.java:65

            if (!matchesVersion(requiredJavaVersion, currentJavaVersion)) {
                throw new IllegalStateException("Required Java version " + requiredJavaVersion
                        + " is not met by current version: " + currentJavaVersion);
            }
        }
    }

    boolean matchesVersion(String requiredVersion, String currentVersion) {
        VersionConstraint constraint;
        try {
            constraint = versionScheme.parseVersionConstraint(requiredVersion);
        } catch (InvalidVersionSpecificationException e) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid 'requiredJavaVersion' given in plugin descriptor", e);
        }
        Version current;
        try {
            current = versionScheme.parseVersion(currentVersion);
        } catch (InvalidVersionSpecificationException e) {
            throw new IllegalStateException("Could not parse current Java version", e);
        }
        if (constraint.getRange() == null) {
            return constraint.getVersion().compareTo(current) <= 0;
        }
        return constraint.containsVersion(current);
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e4093d4e12)

Solutions

1. Print the actual value with `mvn -version` and `java -version`; confirm the JVM reports a standard version string.
2. Remove any -Djava.version=... override from MAVEN_OPTS, CI environment, or launcher scripts and let the JVM report its own value.
3. Switch to a mainstream JDK distribution whose java.version follows the standard scheme.
4. Pin an older version of the offending plugin that does not declare requiredJavaVersion, or rebuild the plugin with a corrected/simplified value.

Example fix

# before: launcher forces a nonstandard value
mvn -Djava.version="17.0.1 custom build" clean

# after: let the JVM report its own version
mvn clean

String v = System.getProperty("java.version");
if (v == null || v.isBlank() || !v.matches("[0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+){0,3}([-._+].*)?")) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("java.version is not a parseable version string: " + v);
}

try {
    pluginManager.checkPrerequisites(descriptor);
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
    if (e.getCause() instanceof org.eclipse.aether.version.InvalidVersionSpecificationException ives) {
        // environment problem, not a plugin choice problem: fix the JVM/launcher
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Executing a plugin whose descriptor declares requiredJavaVersion (set via maven-plugin-plugin from the plugin POM) while the JVM's java.version system property has a value the GenericVersionScheme rejects: null, empty, or an exotic nonstandard string. Reached from MavenPluginPrerequisitesChecker.accept during plugin loading/prerequisite checks.

Common situations: Launcher scripts or tests that override -Djava.version with a nonstandard value; stripped-down/custom JVM distributions reporting unusual version strings; embedding Maven in a process where system properties were sanitized before the build starts.

Related errors

• Required Maven version {} is not met by current version {}
• Unable to read Maven version from maven-core
• Cannot find permitted subclass '{}' for sealed type {}
• Cannot inline property {}
• A required class was missing while executing {}: {}

AI-assisted analysis of apache/maven@e4093d4e12 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7336e6acd988d9a6. Report an issue: GitHub.