diff --git a/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash b/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
index 2264868a2..04824bf19 100755
--- a/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
+++ b/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
@@ -170,6 +170,10 @@ process_args () {
 }
 
 syncPreloaded() {
+  if [[ "$init_sbt_version" == "" ]]; then
+    # FIXME: better $init_sbt_version detection
+    init_sbt_version="$(ls -1 "$sbt_home/lib/local-preloaded/org.scala-sbt/sbt/")"
+  fi
   [[ -f "$HOME/.sbt/preloaded/org.scala-sbt/sbt/$init_sbt_version/jars/sbt.jar" ]] || {
     # lib/local-preloaded exists (This is optional)
     [[ -d "$sbt_home/lib/local-preloaded/" ]] && {
diff --git a/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat b/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
index bf447dc98..85f5f0951 100644
--- a/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
+++ b/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
@@ -143,6 +143,12 @@ if /I "%JAVA_VERSION%" GEQ "9" (
 exit /B 0
 
 :sync_preloaded
+if "%INIT_SBT_VERSION%"=="" (
+  rem FIXME: better %INIT_SBT_VERSION% detection
+  FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`dir /b "%SBT_HOME%\..\lib\local-preloaded\org.scala-sbt\sbt" /B`) DO (
+    SET INIT_SBT_VERSION=%%F
+  )
+)
 set PRELOAD_SBT_JAR="%UserProfile%\.sbt\preloaded\org.scala-sbt\sbt\%INIT_SBT_VERSION%\jars\sbt.jar"
 if /I "%JAVA_VERSION%" GEQ "1.8" (
   where robocopy >nul 2>nul