diff --git a/gemma-cli/pom.xml b/gemma-cli/pom.xml
index 010baac849..cd25f97286 100644
--- a/gemma-cli/pom.xml
+++ b/gemma-cli/pom.xml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
                         </program>
                     </programs>
                     <!-- this allows Log4j 2 to lookup for Log4j 1.2 configuration -->
-                    <extraJvmArguments>${jvmOptions}</extraJvmArguments>
+                    <extraJvmArguments>-Djava.library.path=${hdf5.libDir} ${jvmOptions}</extraJvmArguments>
                     <!-- Gemma CLI extensions can be dropped in that folder -->
                     <endorsedDir>contrib</endorsedDir>
                 </configuration>