diff --git a/maven-release-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/release/exec/ForkedMavenExecutor.java b/maven-release-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/release/exec/ForkedMavenExecutor.java
index 2b8d9f62..7a807aaf 100644
--- a/maven-release-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/release/exec/ForkedMavenExecutor.java
+++ b/maven-release-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/release/exec/ForkedMavenExecutor.java
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ public void executeGoals(
 
             cl.addEnvironment("MAVEN_TERMINATE_CMD", "on");
 
+            if (releaseEnvironment.getJavaHome() != null) {
+                cl.addEnvironment("JAVA_HOME", releaseEnvironment.getJavaHome().getAbsolutePath());
+            }
+
             if (settingsFile != null) {
                 cl.createArg().setValue("-s");
                 cl.createArg().setFile(settingsFile);