diff --git a/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/JavacCompiler.java b/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/JavacCompiler.java
index 1e97f8e7..0255c2a7 100644
--- a/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/JavacCompiler.java
+++ b/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/main/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/JavacCompiler.java
@@ -638,6 +638,10 @@ private static CompilerResult compileInProcess0(Class<?> javacClass, String[] ar
     private static final Pattern STACK_TRACE_OTHER_LINE =
             Pattern.compile("^(?:Caused by:\\s.*|\\s*at .*|\\s*\\.\\.\\.\\s\\d+\\smore)$");
 
+    // Match generic javac errors with 'javac:' prefix, JMV init and boot layer init errors
+    private static final Pattern JAVAC_OR_JVM_ERROR =
+            Pattern.compile("^(?:javac:|Error occurred during initialization of (?:boot layer|VM)).*", Pattern.DOTALL);
+
     /**
      * Parse the output from the compiler into a list of CompilerMessage objects
      *
@@ -664,10 +668,8 @@ static List<CompilerMessage> parseModernStream(int exitCode, BufferedReader inpu
                 // maybe better to ignore only the summary and mark the rest as error
                 String bufferAsString = buffer.toString();
                 if (buffer.length() > 0) {
-                    if (bufferAsString.startsWith("javac:")) {
+                    if (JAVAC_OR_JVM_ERROR.matcher(bufferAsString).matches()) {
                         errors.add(new CompilerMessage(bufferAsString, CompilerMessage.Kind.ERROR));
-                    } else if (bufferAsString.startsWith("Error occurred during initialization of boot layer")) {
-                        errors.add(new CompilerMessage(bufferAsString, CompilerMessage.Kind.OTHER));
                     } else if (hasPointer) {
                         // A compiler message remains in buffer at end of parse stream
                         errors.add(parseModernError(exitCode, bufferAsString));
diff --git a/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/test/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/ErrorMessageParserTest.java b/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/test/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/ErrorMessageParserTest.java
index d8f01590..5ab3c822 100644
--- a/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/test/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/ErrorMessageParserTest.java
+++ b/plexus-compilers/plexus-compiler-javac/src/test/java/org/codehaus/plexus/compiler/javac/ErrorMessageParserTest.java
@@ -1010,7 +1010,7 @@ public void testIssue37() throws IOException {
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void testJvmError() throws Exception {
+    public void testJvmBootLayerInitializationError() throws Exception {
         String out = "Error occurred during initialization of boot layer" + EOL
                 + "java.lang.module.FindException: Module java.xml.bind not found";
 
@@ -1018,8 +1018,21 @@ public void testJvmError() throws Exception {
                 JavacCompiler.parseModernStream(1, new BufferedReader(new StringReader(out)));
 
         assertThat(compilerErrors, notNullValue());
+        assertThat(compilerErrors.size(), is(1));
+        assertThat(compilerErrors.get(0).getKind(), is(CompilerMessage.Kind.ERROR));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testJvmInitializationError() throws Exception {
+        String out = "Error occurred during initialization of VM" + EOL
+                + "Initial heap size set to a larger value than the maximum heap size";
 
+        List<CompilerMessage> compilerErrors =
+                JavacCompiler.parseModernStream(1, new BufferedReader(new StringReader(out)));
+
+        assertThat(compilerErrors, notNullValue());
         assertThat(compilerErrors.size(), is(1));
+        assertThat(compilerErrors.get(0).getKind(), is(CompilerMessage.Kind.ERROR));
     }
 
     @Test