diff --git a/util/complete/src/main/scala/sbt/LineReader.scala b/util/complete/src/main/scala/sbt/LineReader.scala
index 6d81a2391..e3d3df0f0 100644
--- a/util/complete/src/main/scala/sbt/LineReader.scala
+++ b/util/complete/src/main/scala/sbt/LineReader.scala
@@ -64,6 +64,24 @@ abstract class JLine extends LineReader
 }
 private object JLine
 {
+	private[this] val TerminalProperty = "jline.terminal"
+
+	fixTerminalProperty()
+
+	// translate explicit class names to type in order to support
+	//  older Scala, since it shaded classes but not the system property
+	private[sbt] def fixTerminalProperty() {
+		val newValue = System.getProperty(TerminalProperty) match {
+			case "jline.UnixTerminal" => "unix"
+			case null if System.getProperty("sbt.cygwin") != null => "unix"
+			case "jline.WindowsTerminal" => "windows"
+			case "jline.AnsiWindowsTerminal" => "windows"
+			case "jline.UnsupportedTerminal" => "none"
+			case x => x
+		}
+		if(newValue != null) System.setProperty(TerminalProperty, newValue)
+	}
+
 	// When calling this, ensure that enableEcho has been or will be called.
 	// TerminalFactory.get will initialize the terminal to disable echo.
 	private def terminal = jline.TerminalFactory.get