diff --git a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/Run.java b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/Run.java
index dfde72a6..f6a070d1 100644
--- a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/Run.java
+++ b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/Run.java
@@ -169,15 +169,15 @@ private void runInFork(Server server) throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailure
 			}
 		}
 
-		String mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getUserProperties().getProperty("MAVEN_OPTS");
+		String mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getUserProperties().getProperty("MAVEN_OPTS", "");
 		if (StringUtils.isBlank(mavenOpts)) {
-			mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getUserProperties().getProperty("env.MAVEN_OPTS");
+			mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getUserProperties().getProperty("env.MAVEN_OPTS", "");
 		}
 		if (StringUtils.isBlank(mavenOpts)) {
-			mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getSystemProperties().getProperty("MAVEN_OPTS");
+			mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getSystemProperties().getProperty("MAVEN_OPTS", "");
 		}
 		if (StringUtils.isBlank(mavenOpts)) {
-			mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getSystemProperties().getProperty("env.MAVEN_OPTS");
+			mavenOpts = mavenSession.getRequest().getSystemProperties().getProperty("env.MAVEN_OPTS", "");
 		}
 
 		mavenOpts = adjustXmxToAtLeast(mavenOpts, 768);