diff --git a/gridworks b/gridworks
index b1e4c44ac..ba634d6ec 100755
--- a/gridworks
+++ b/gridworks
@@ -625,24 +625,27 @@ load_configs gridworks.ini
 
 # ----- Make sure there is an appropriate java environment is available -------------
 
-JAVA=`which java`
-if [ -z "$JAVA" ]; then
-    if [ "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
-        JAVA="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
-        if [ ! -f "$JAVA" ] ; then
-            error "Could not find the 'java' executable at '$JAVA', are you sure your JAVA_HOME environment variable is pointing to a proper java installation?"
+if [ "$SYSTEM" = 'Darwin' ] && [ -z "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
+    # Mac OS X defaults to Java 5. So update JAVA_HOME unless the user manually set it.
+    export JAVA_HOME="/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6/Home"
+    JAVA="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
+else
+    JAVA=`which java`
+    if [ -z "$JAVA" ]; then
+        if [ "$JAVA_HOME" ]; then
+            JAVA="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
+            if [ ! -f "$JAVA" ] ; then
+                error "Could not find the 'java' executable at '$JAVA', are you sure your JAVA_HOME environment variable is pointing to a proper java installation?"
+            fi
+        else
+            error "The 'java' command should be in your path or the 'JAVA_HOME' environment variable should be set"
         fi
-    elif [ "$SYSTEM" = 'Darwin' ]; then
-        JAVA_HOME="/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6/Home"
-        JAVA="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
-    else
-        error "The 'java' command should be in your path or the 'JAVA_HOME' environment variable should be set"
     fi
 fi
-    
+
 JAVA_VERSION=`$JAVA -version 2>&1 | grep version | cut -d ' ' -f 3 | egrep ^\"1\.6`
 if [ -z "$JAVA_VERSION" ]; then
-    error "Gridworks requires Java version 6 or later."
+    error "Gridworks requires Java version 6 or later. If you have multiple versions of Java installed, please set JAVA_HOME to the correct version."
 fi
 
 # ----- Parse the command line args ------------------------------------------