diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 40149bbcb..fa874c0da 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -166,9 +166,11 @@ val root = (project in file(".")).
       val old = (stage in Universal).value
       val sd = (stagingDirectory in Universal).value
       val x = IO.read(sd / "bin" / "sbt-launch-lib.bash")
-      IO.write(sd / "bin" / "sbt-launch-lib.bash", x.replaceAllLiterally("declare init_sbt_version=", s"declare init_sbt_version=$sbtVersionToRelease"))
+      IO.write(sd / "bin" / "sbt-launch-lib.bash", x.replaceAllLiterally(
+        "declare init_sbt_version=_to_be_replaced", s"declare init_sbt_version=$sbtVersionToRelease"))
       val y = IO.read(sd / "bin" / "sbt.bat")
-      IO.write(sd / "bin" / "sbt.bat", y.replaceAllLiterally("set INIT_SBT_VERSION=", s"set INIT_SBT_VERSION=$sbtVersionToRelease"))
+      IO.write(sd / "bin" / "sbt.bat", y.replaceAllLiterally(
+        "set INIT_SBT_VERSION=_TO_BE_REPLACED", s"set INIT_SBT_VERSION=$sbtVersionToRelease"))
       old
     },
 
diff --git a/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash b/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
index 2264868a2..59d8af3d6 100755
--- a/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
+++ b/src/universal/bin/sbt-launch-lib.bash
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ declare -a scalac_args
 declare -a sbt_commands
 declare java_cmd=java
 declare java_version
-declare init_sbt_version=
+declare init_sbt_version=_to_be_replaced
 
 declare SCRIPT=$0
 while [ -h "$SCRIPT" ] ; do
@@ -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 1f72b990e..6035dc357 100644
--- a/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
+++ b/src/universal/bin/sbt.bat
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ rem We use the value of the JAVA_OPTS environment variable if defined, rather th
 set _JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS%
 if "%_JAVA_OPTS%"=="" set _JAVA_OPTS=%CFG_OPTS%
 
+set INIT_SBT_VERSION=_TO_BE_REPLACED
+
 :args_loop
 if "%~1" == "" goto args_end
 
@@ -143,15 +145,21 @@ 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 "8" (
+if /I "%JAVA_VERSION%" GEQ "1.8" (
   where robocopy >nul 2>nul
   if %ERRORLEVEL% equ 0 (
     echo %PRELOAD_SBT_JAR%
     if not exist %PRELOAD_SBT_JAR% (
       if exist "%SBT_HOME%\..\lib\local-preloaded\" (
         echo 'about to robocopy'
-        robocopy "%SBT_HOME%\..\lib\local-preloaded\" "%UserProfile%\.sbt\preloaded"
+        robocopy "%SBT_HOME%\..\lib\local-preloaded" "%UserProfile%\.sbt\preloaded" /E
       )
     )
   )