diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/GCUtil.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/GCUtil.scala
index 51d08d41c..e114c9e85 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/GCUtil.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/GCUtil.scala
@@ -37,7 +37,11 @@ private[sbt] object GCUtil {
       // Force the detection of finalizers for scala.reflect weakhashsets
       System.gc()
       // Force finalizers to run.
-      System.runFinalization()
+      try {
+        System.runFinalization()
+      } catch {
+        case _: NoSuchMethodError =>
+      }
       // Force actually cleaning the weak hash maps.
       System.gc()
     } catch {