diff --git a/.github/workflows/java.yml b/.github/workflows/java.yml
index a602beec..f28ea662 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/java.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/java.yml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ jobs:
         distribution: 'adopt'
 
     - name: Run tests
-      run: make ja_test
+      run: make ja_test ${{ matrix.java-version > 17 || 'MVN_FLAGS="-e -nf"' }}
 
     - name: Upload code coverage to Codecov
       uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
diff --git a/java/Makefile b/java/Makefile
index 2bfc91f4..b7228ea9 100644
--- a/java/Makefile
+++ b/java/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 MVN?=mvn
+MVN_FLAGS?= -e
 BLUE=\033[0;34m
 NC=\033[0m # No Color
 
@@ -15,15 +16,15 @@ clean:
 
 .PHONY: test
 test: ../LICENSE
-	@$(MVN) -e test -Dtest.single
+	@$(MVN) $(MVN_FLAGS) test -Dtest.single
 
 test_auto: ../LICENSE
-	@$(MVN) -e test -T 1C
+	@$(MVN) $(MVN_FLAGS) test -T 1C
 
 .PHONY: test_%
 test_%: ../LICENSE
-	@$(MVN) -e test -T $*
+	@$(MVN) $(MVN_FLAGS) test -T $*
 
 .PHONY: lint
 lint:
-	@$(MVN) formatter:format
+	@$(MVN) $(MVN_FLAGS) formatter:format
diff --git a/java/pom.xml b/java/pom.xml
index ac10381c..2b6d8391 100644
--- a/java/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pom.xml
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@
 				<groupId>net.revelc.code.formatter</groupId>
 				<artifactId>formatter-maven-plugin</artifactId>
 				<version>2.24.1</version>
-				<optional>true</optional>
 				<configuration>
 					<javaExclusionPattern>(\W+\.?[^\W]+\(.*\);?\n)+</javaExclusionPattern>
 					<lineSeparator>\n</lineSeparator>