diff --git a/manifests/slave.pp b/manifests/slave.pp
index 3c8ee3a22..8b7da8890 100644
--- a/manifests/slave.pp
+++ b/manifests/slave.pp
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@
 #   parameter so the `::jenkins` class does not need to be the catalog for
 #   slave only nodes.
 #
+# [*java_cmd*]
+#   Path to the java command in ${defaults_location}/jenkins-slave. Defaults to '/usr/bin/java'
+#
 
 # === Examples
 #
@@ -119,6 +122,7 @@
   $source                   = undef,
   $java_args                = undef,
   $proxy_server             = undef,
+  $java_cmd                 = '/usr/bin/java',
 ) inherits jenkins::params {
   validate_string($slave_name)
   validate_string($description)
diff --git a/templates/jenkins-slave-defaults.erb b/templates/jenkins-slave-defaults.erb
index d5d5f930a..3d8fde8f2 100644
--- a/templates/jenkins-slave-defaults.erb
+++ b/templates/jenkins-slave-defaults.erb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 NAME=jenkins-slave
 
 # location of java
-JAVA=/usr/bin/java
+JAVA=<%= @java_cmd %>
 
 # arguments to pass to java
 #JAVA_ARGS="-Xmx256m"