diff --git a/src/org/jruby/RubyInstanceConfig.java b/src/org/jruby/RubyInstanceConfig.java
index 91cfe03..23ce8fe 100644
--- a/src/org/jruby/RubyInstanceConfig.java
+++ b/src/org/jruby/RubyInstanceConfig.java
@@ -659,14 +659,13 @@ public class RubyInstanceConfig {
             } else {
                 try {
                     // try loading from classloader resources
-                    jrubyHome = getClass().getResource("/META-INF/jruby.home")
-                        .toURI().getSchemeSpecificPart();
+                    if(getClass().getResource("/META-INF/jruby.home") != null) {
+                        jrubyHome = "META-INF/jruby.home";
+                    }
+                    
                 } catch (Exception e) {}
 
-                if (jrubyHome != null) {
-                    // verify it if it's there
-                    jrubyHome = verifyHome(jrubyHome);
-                } else {
+                if (jrubyHome == null) {
                     // otherwise fall back on system temp location
                     jrubyHome = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir");
                 }