diff --git a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java
index c13a543c6..a909ef918 100644
--- a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java
+++ b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/StartDebugMojoSupport.java
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public abstract class StartDebugMojoSupport extends ServerFeatureSupport {
 
     protected Map<String,String> bootstrapMavenProps = new HashMap<String,String>();  
     protected Map<String,String> envMavenProps = new HashMap<String,String>();  
-    protected List<String> jvmMavenPropNames = new ArrayList<String>();  
+    protected List<String> jvmMavenPropNames = new ArrayList<String>();  // only used for tracking overriding properties - not included in the generated jvm.options file
     protected List<String> jvmMavenPropValues = new ArrayList<String>();  
     protected Map<String,String> varMavenProps = new HashMap<String,String>();  
     protected Map<String,String> defaultVarMavenProps = new HashMap<String,String>();  
@@ -821,21 +821,21 @@ private void loadLibertyConfigFromProperties(Properties props) {
                 
                 getLog().debug("Processing Liberty configuration from property with key "+key+" and value "+value);
                 switch (propType) {
-                    case ENV:       envMavenProps.put(suffix, value);
-                                    break;
-                    case BOOTSTRAP: bootstrapMavenProps.put(suffix, value);
-                                    break;
-                    case JVM:       if (jvmMavenPropNames.contains(suffix)) {
+                    case ENV:        envMavenProps.put(suffix, value);
+                                     break;
+                    case BOOTSTRAP:  bootstrapMavenProps.put(suffix, value);
+                                     break;
+                    case JVM:        if (jvmMavenPropNames.contains(suffix)) {
                                         int index = jvmMavenPropNames.indexOf(suffix);
                                         getLog().debug("Remove duplicate property with name: "+suffix+" at position: "+index);
                                         jvmMavenPropNames.remove(index);
                                         jvmMavenPropValues.remove(index);
-                                    }
-                                    jvmMavenPropNames.add(suffix);
-                                    jvmMavenPropValues.add(value);
-                                    break;
-                    case VAR:       varMavenProps.put(suffix, value);
-                                    break;
+                                     }
+                                     jvmMavenPropNames.add(suffix);  // need to keep track of names so that a system prop can override a project prop
+                                     jvmMavenPropValues.add(value);
+                                     break;
+                    case VAR:        varMavenProps.put(suffix, value);
+                                     break;
                     case DEFAULTVAR: defaultVarMavenProps.put(suffix, value);
                                      break;
                 }
@@ -952,24 +952,21 @@ private void writeServerEnvProperties(File file, Map<String, String> mavenProper
     }
 
     // Remove any duplicate entries in the passed in List
-    protected List<String> getUniqueValues(List<String> options) {
-        List<String> uniqueOptions = new ArrayList<String> ();
-        if (options == null) {
-            return uniqueOptions;
-        }
-        if (options.isEmpty()) {
-            return options;
+    protected List<String> getUniqueValues(List<String> values) {
+        List<String> uniqueValues = new ArrayList<String> ();
+        if (values == null) {
+            return uniqueValues;
         }
         
-        for (String nextOption : options) {
-            // by removing the option first, it ensures this one is last and not a duplicate - nothing happens if the option is not there
-            if (uniqueOptions.contains(nextOption)) {
-                getLog().debug("Remove duplicate option: "+nextOption+" at position: "+uniqueOptions.indexOf(nextOption));
+        for (String nextValue : values) {
+            // by removing a matching existing value, it ensures there will not be a duplicate and that this current one will appear later in the List
+            if (uniqueValues.contains(nextValue)) {
+                getLog().debug("Remove duplicate value: "+nextValue+" at position: "+uniqueValues.indexOf(nextValue));
             }
-            uniqueOptions.remove(nextOption); 
-            uniqueOptions.add(nextOption);
+            uniqueValues.remove(nextValue); // has no effect if the value is not present
+            uniqueValues.add(nextValue);
         }
-        return uniqueOptions;
+        return uniqueValues;
     }
 
     // One of the passed in Lists must be not null and not empty
@@ -982,7 +979,8 @@ private void writeJvmOptions(File file, List<String> options, List<String> maven
                 combinedJvmOptions = uniqueMavenProps;
             } else {
                 combinedJvmOptions = new ArrayList<String> ();
-                // add the maven properties first so that they do not take precedence over the options specified with jvmOptions
+                // add the maven properties (which consist of both project properties and system properties) first,
+                // so that they do not take precedence over the options specified with jvmOptions config parameter
                 combinedJvmOptions.addAll(uniqueMavenProps);
                 combinedJvmOptions.removeAll(uniqueOptions); // remove any exact duplicates before adding all the jvmOptions
                 combinedJvmOptions.addAll(uniqueOptions);