diff --git a/bin/lein b/bin/lein
index 1ef5d8e3..fd5b4844 100755
--- a/bin/lein
+++ b/bin/lein
@@ -110,5 +110,8 @@ elif [ "$1" = "upgrade" ]; then
         esac
     fi
 else
-    exec java -Xbootclasspath/a:"$CLOJURE_JAR" -client $JAVA_OPTS -cp "$CLASSPATH" -Dleiningen.version="$VERSION" clojure.main -e "(use 'leiningen.core)(-main $ESCAPED_ARGS)"
+    if [ ! `uname` == "Darwin" ]; then
+        XBOOTCLASSPATH=-Xbootclasspath/a:"$CLOJURE_JAR"
+    fi
+    exec java $XBOOTCLASSPATH -client $JAVA_OPTS -cp "$CLASSPATH" -Dleiningen.version="$VERSION" clojure.main -e "(use 'leiningen.core)(-main $ESCAPED_ARGS)"
 fi