diff --git a/test/jdk/tools/launcher/ToolsOpts.java b/test/jdk/tools/launcher/ToolsOpts.java
index 858ba89775b..036e0f3643e 100644
--- a/test/jdk/tools/launcher/ToolsOpts.java
+++ b/test/jdk/tools/launcher/ToolsOpts.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2012, 2017, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2012, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -128,7 +128,8 @@ public class ToolsOpts extends TestHelper {
         String jopts = "";
         for (String pat : opts) {
             jopts = jopts.concat(pat + " ");
-            if (tr.contains("-J")) {
+            if (tr.contains(" -J-")) {
+                System.err.println(tr);
                 throw new RuntimeException(
                         "failed: output should not contain option " + pat);
             }