diff --git a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/Bundles.java b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/Bundles.java
index 93dfd14bad..4feb6ebbf6 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/Bundles.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/Bundles.java
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ private Bundles() {
 
   private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Bundles.class);
 
-  public static List<String> getClasspathEntries(Bundle bundle) {
+  public static List<String> getClasspathEntries(Bundle bundle, boolean extractRoot) {
     log.debug("getClasspathEntries(Bundle={})", bundle);
     Set<String> cp = new LinkedHashSet<>();
     if(inDevelopmentMode()) {
@@ -53,13 +53,7 @@ public static List<String> getClasspathEntries(Bundle bundle) {
     cp.addAll(parseBundleClasspath(bundle));
     List<String> entries = new ArrayList<>();
     for(String cpe : cp) {
-      String entry;
-      if(".".equals(cpe)) {
-        entry = FileLocator.getBundleFileLocation(bundle)
-            .orElseThrow(() -> new NoSuchElementException("Unable to locate bundle:" + bundle)).toString();
-      } else {
-        entry = getClasspathEntryPath(bundle, cpe);
-      }
+      String entry = getClasspathEntryPath(bundle, cpe, extractRoot);
       if(entry != null) {
         log.debug("\tEntry:{}", entry);
         entries.add(entry);
@@ -81,16 +75,23 @@ private static List<String> parseBundleClasspath(Bundle bundle) {
     return List.of(".");
   }
 
-  public static String getClasspathEntryPath(Bundle bundle, String cp) {
+  public static String getClasspathEntryPath(Bundle bundle, String cp, boolean extractRoot) {
     // try embedded entries first
-    URL url = bundle.getEntry(cp);
-    if(url != null) {
-      try {
+    try {
+      if(".".equals(cp)) {
+        if(!extractRoot) {
+          return FileLocator.getBundleFileLocation(bundle)
+              .orElseThrow(() -> new NoSuchElementException("Unable to locate bundle:" + bundle)).getCanonicalPath();
+        }
+        cp = "/"; // get bundle's root entry below, which extracts the bundle's jar, if it not of shape 'dir' already
+      }
+      URL url = bundle.getEntry(cp);
+      if(url != null) {
         String path = FileLocator.toFileURL(url).getFile();
         return new Path(path).toOSString();
-      } catch(IOException ex) {
-        log.warn("Could not get entry {} for bundle {}", cp, bundle, ex);
       }
+    } catch(IOException ex) {
+      log.warn("Could not get entry {} for bundle {}", cp, bundle, ex);
     }
 
     // in development mode entries can be absolute paths outside of bundle basedir
diff --git a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/launch/MavenEmbeddedRuntime.java b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/launch/MavenEmbeddedRuntime.java
index 28556de6a0..c23ed8f8cd 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/launch/MavenEmbeddedRuntime.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/launch/MavenEmbeddedRuntime.java
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ public void createLauncherConfiguration(IMavenLauncherConfiguration collector, I
     }
   }
 
+  public static final Set<String> SLF4J_BUNDLE_NAMES = Set.of("org.slf4j.api", "slf4j.api");
+
   private synchronized void initClasspath() {
     if(CLASSPATH == null) {
       Bundle mavenRuntimeBundle = findMavenEmbedderBundle();
@@ -120,9 +122,8 @@ private synchronized void initClasspath() {
       addBundleClasspathEntries(allEntries, mavenRuntimeBundle, true);
       allEntries.add(getEmbeddedSLF4JBinding(mavenRuntimeBundle));
 
-      Set<String> noDependencyBundles = Set.of("org.slf4j.api", "slf4j.api");
       // Don't include dependencies of slf4j bundle to ensure no other than the slf4j-binding embedded into m2e.maven.runtime is available.
-      Set<Bundle> bundles = getRequiredBundles(mavenRuntimeBundle, noDependencyBundles);
+      Set<Bundle> bundles = getRequiredBundles(mavenRuntimeBundle, SLF4J_BUNDLE_NAMES);
 
       for(Bundle bundle : bundles) {
         addBundleClasspathEntries(allEntries, bundle, false);
@@ -141,11 +142,13 @@ private synchronized void initClasspath() {
   }
 
   private void addBundleClasspathEntries(Set<String> entries, Bundle bundle, boolean addFragments) {
-    entries.addAll(Bundles.getClasspathEntries(bundle));
+    boolean extractRoot = SLF4J_BUNDLE_NAMES.contains(bundle.getSymbolicName());
+    // Use extracted/directory form of slf4j bundles so that their jar-signing signature by the Maven-runtime classloader
+    entries.addAll(Bundles.getClasspathEntries(bundle, extractRoot));
     Bundle[] fragments;
     if(addFragments && (fragments = Platform.getFragments(bundle)) != null) {
       for(Bundle fragment : fragments) {
-        entries.addAll(Bundles.getClasspathEntries(fragment));
+        entries.addAll(Bundles.getClasspathEntries(fragment, SLF4J_BUNDLE_NAMES.contains(fragment.getSymbolicName())));
       }
     }
   }
@@ -154,7 +157,7 @@ private static String getEmbeddedSLF4JBinding(Bundle mavenBundle) {
     String bindingPath = mavenBundle.getHeaders().get(M2E_SL4J_BINDING_HEADER);
     Objects.requireNonNull(bindingPath,
         () -> "Missing '" + M2E_SL4J_BINDING_HEADER + "' header in embedded Maven-runtime bundle");
-    String bindingJarPath = Bundles.getClasspathEntryPath(mavenBundle, bindingPath);
+    String bindingJarPath = Bundles.getClasspathEntryPath(mavenBundle, bindingPath, false);
     return Objects.requireNonNull(bindingJarPath, () -> M2E_SL4J_BINDING_HEADER + " '" + bindingPath + "' not found");
   }