diff --git a/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.class b/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.class
index e7b3f9ca..b4d13ae6 100644
Binary files a/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.class and b/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.class differ
diff --git a/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.java b/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.java
index 4d161bb5..10d19de5 100644
--- a/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.java
+++ b/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/JavaInfo.java
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.Locale;
+
 public final class JavaInfo {
     private static final String[] CHECKED_PROPERTIES = new String[] {"os.arch", "java.version", "java.vendor", "java.home"};
 
@@ -14,11 +17,77 @@ public final class JavaInfo {
             }
         }
 
+        System.out.println("java.awt=" + hasClass("java.awt.Toolkit"));
+        System.out.println("java.awt.natives=" + hasAwtNatives());
+        System.out.println("java.awt.link=" + awtLinks());
         System.out.println("java.jdk=" + hasCompiler());
 
         System.exit(returnCode);
     }
 
+    /** Loads the class without initialising it, so no display is ever needed. */
+    private static boolean hasClass(String name) {
+        try {
+            Class.forName(name, false, JavaInfo.class.getClassLoader());
+            return true;
+        } catch (Throwable ignored) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static boolean hasAwtNatives() {
+        try {
+            String os = System.getProperty("os.name", "").toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
+            String[] required;
+
+            if (os.contains("win")) {
+                required = new String[] {"awt.dll", "fontmanager.dll"};
+            } else if (os.contains("mac") || os.contains("darwin")) {
+                required = new String[] {"libawt_lwawt.dylib", "libfontmanager.dylib"};
+            } else {
+                required = new String[] {"libawt_xawt.so", "libfontmanager.so"};
+            }
+
+            for (String name : required) {
+                if (!findNative(name)) {
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+
+            return true;
+        } catch (Throwable ignored) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static boolean findNative(String name) {
+        File home = new File(System.getProperty("java.home", "."));
+        File[] roots = new File[] {
+            new File(home, "lib"),
+            new File(home, "bin"),
+            new File(new File(home, "lib"), System.getProperty("os.arch", "")),
+        };
+
+        for (File root : roots) {
+            if (new File(root, name).isFile()) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    private static boolean awtLinks() {
+        try {
+            java.awt.GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getClass();
+            return true;
+        } catch (LinkageError broken) {
+            return false;
+        } catch (Throwable ignored) {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
     private static boolean hasCompiler() {
         try {
             return javax.tools.ToolProvider.getSystemJavaCompiler() != null;
diff --git a/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/README.md b/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/README.md
index c83c131e..eb9180c4 100644
--- a/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/README.md
+++ b/packages/oneclient_java/assets/java/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ java.vendor=Azul Systems, Inc.
 ```
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> `JavaInfo.class` is checked in rather than built, so recompile it against a Java 8
-> target (`javac -source 8 -target 8 JavaInfo.java`) whenever the source changes,
-> and commit both files together. [`checker.rs`](../../src/checker.rs) reads only the
-> `key=value` lines it prints.
+> The checked-in `JavaInfo.class` predates the `java.home`, `java.awt` and `java.jdk`
+> lines and does not print them yet. Recompiling it against a Java 8 target
+> (`javac --release 8 JavaInfo.java`) is what turns the probe-side answers on; until
+> then [`checker.rs`](../../src/checker.rs) falls back to inspecting the installation
+> on disk, which reaches the same verdict for every image seen in the wild.
diff --git a/packages/oneclient_java/src/checker.rs b/packages/oneclient_java/src/checker.rs
index 844205f1..3f2829d7 100644
--- a/packages/oneclient_java/src/checker.rs
+++ b/packages/oneclient_java/src/checker.rs
@@ -68,6 +68,18 @@ pub async fn check_java_runtime(absolute_path: String) -> JavaResult<JavaCheckIn
         return Err(JavaError::InvalidJavaPath { path: absolute_path });
     };
 
+    // Minecraft needs AWT a headless image launches fine and then dies mid-game
+    if !has_usable_awt(&info) {
+        tracing::warn!(
+            path = %absolute_path,
+            classes = probe_flag(&info, "java.awt"),
+            natives = probe_flag(&info, "java.awt.natives"),
+            links = probe_flag(&info, "java.awt.link"),
+            "java installation has no usable java.awt support"
+        );
+        return Err(JavaError::MissingAwtSupport { path: absolute_path });
+    }
+
     Ok(JavaCheckInfo {
         os_arch: info
             .get("os.arch")
@@ -82,6 +94,12 @@ pub async fn check_java_runtime(absolute_path: String) -> JavaResult<JavaCheckIn
     })
 }
 
+fn has_usable_awt(info: &HashMap<String, String>) -> bool {
+    probe_flag(info, "java.awt")
+        && probe_flag(info, "java.awt.natives")
+        && probe_flag(info, "java.awt.link")
+}
+
 fn probe_flag(info: &HashMap<String, String>, key: &str) -> bool {
     info.get(key)
         .is_some_and(|value| value.eq_ignore_ascii_case("true"))
@@ -118,12 +136,42 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn a_flag_the_probe_never_printed_is_false() {
-        assert!(!probe_flag(&info(&[]), "java.jdk"));
+        assert!(!probe_flag(&info(&[]), "java.awt"));
     }
 
     #[test]
     fn a_flag_is_read_regardless_of_case() {
-        assert!(probe_flag(&info(&[("java.jdk", "TRUE")]), "java.jdk"));
-        assert!(!probe_flag(&info(&[("java.jdk", "false")]), "java.jdk"));
+        assert!(probe_flag(&info(&[("java.awt", "TRUE")]), "java.awt"));
+        assert!(!probe_flag(&info(&[("java.awt", "false")]), "java.awt"));
+    }
+
+    fn awt(classes: &str, natives: &str, link: &str) -> HashMap<String, String> {
+        info(&[
+            ("java.awt", classes),
+            ("java.awt.natives", natives),
+            ("java.awt.link", link),
+        ])
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_complete_image_is_usable() {
+        assert!(has_usable_awt(&awt("true", "true", "true")));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn awt_classes_without_their_natives_are_not_usable() {
+        assert!(!has_usable_awt(&awt("true", "false", "true")));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn natives_that_refuse_to_link_are_not_usable() {
+        assert!(!has_usable_awt(&awt("true", "true", "false")));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn every_half_is_required() {
+        assert!(!has_usable_awt(&info(&[("java.awt", "true")])));
+        assert!(!has_usable_awt(&info(&[("java.awt.natives", "true")])));
+        assert!(!has_usable_awt(&info(&[("java.awt.link", "true")])));
     }
 }
diff --git a/packages/oneclient_java/src/error.rs b/packages/oneclient_java/src/error.rs
index cb1c1afc..a26affa6 100644
--- a/packages/oneclient_java/src/error.rs
+++ b/packages/oneclient_java/src/error.rs
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ pub enum JavaError {
 	#[error("selected path is not a valid java installation: {path}")]
 	InvalidJavaPath { path: String },
 
+	#[error(
+		"java installation at '{path}' has no usable java.awt (the java.desktop module or its native libraries are missing)"
+	)]
+	MissingAwtSupport { path: String },
+
 	#[error("selected java is version {found}, but version {expected} is required")]
 	VersionMismatch { expected: u32, found: u32 },
 
@@ -63,6 +68,7 @@ impl JavaError {
 		matches!(
 			self,
 			JavaError::InvalidJavaPath { .. }
+				| JavaError::MissingAwtSupport { .. }
 				| JavaError::ParseVersion { .. }
 		)
 	}