diff --git a/src/main/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/DistributionExtension.groovy b/src/main/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/DistributionExtension.groovy
index fccf5183..982ad7bb 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/DistributionExtension.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/DistributionExtension.groovy
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ package com.palantir.gradle.javadist;
 
 class DistributionExtension {
 
+    private static final List<String> requiredJvmOpts = ['-Djava.security.egd=file:/dev/./urandom']
+
     private String serviceName
     private String mainClass
     private List<String> args = []
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ class DistributionExtension {
     }
 
     public List<String> getDefaultJvmOpts() {
-        return defaultJvmOpts
+        return requiredJvmOpts + defaultJvmOpts
     }
 
     public boolean isEnableManifestClasspath() {
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/JavaDistributionPluginTests.groovy b/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/JavaDistributionPluginTests.groovy
index dd29d535..5557ac7f 100644
--- a/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/JavaDistributionPluginTests.groovy
+++ b/src/test/groovy/com/palantir/gradle/javadist/JavaDistributionPluginTests.groovy
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ class JavaDistributionPluginTests extends Specification {
         // check start script uses default JVM options
         new File(projectDir, 'dist/service-name-0.1/service/bin/service-name').exists()
         String startScript = readFully('dist/service-name-0.1/service/bin/service-name')
-        startScript.contains('DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS=\'"-Xmx4M" "-Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=truststore.jks"\'')
+        startScript.contains('DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS=\'"-Djava.security.egd=file:/dev/./urandom" "-Xmx4M" "-Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=truststore.jks"\'')
     }
 
     def 'produce distribution bundle that populates config.sh' () {