```diff
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/Ruby.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/Ruby.java
index c902a0116c..b93dbbadd9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/Ruby.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/Ruby.java
@@ -980,7 +980,7 @@ public final class Ruby implements Constantizable {
         // Try loading from precompiled class file
         String clsName = JavaNameMangler.mangledFilenameForStartupClasspath(filename);
         try {
-            Class scriptClass = jrubyClassLoader.loadClass(clsName.replace("/", "."));
+            Class scriptClass = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader().loadClass(clsName.replace("/", "."));
 
             System.err.println("found class " + scriptClass.getName() + " for " + filename);
```