diff --git a/backend/controller/leases/lease_integration_test.go b/backend/controller/leases/lease_integration_test.go
index 0f68a9558f..64f2d7bba3 100644
--- a/backend/controller/leases/lease_integration_test.go
+++ b/backend/controller/leases/lease_integration_test.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 func TestLease(t *testing.T) {
 	in.Run(t,
 		in.WithLanguages("go", "java"),
-		in.WithJava(),
 		in.CopyModule("leases"),
 		in.Build("leases"),
 		// checks if leases work in a unit test environment
diff --git a/integration/harness.go b/integration/harness.go
index 79fb915aa6..c38181577a 100644
--- a/integration/harness.go
+++ b/integration/harness.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
 	"testing"
@@ -78,8 +79,9 @@ func WithEnvar(key, value string) Option {
 	}
 }
 
-// WithJava is a Run* option that ensures the Java runtime is built.
-func WithJava() Option {
+// BuildJava is a Run* option that ensures the Java runtime is built.
+// If the test languages contain java this is not necessary, as it is implied
+func BuildJava() Option {
 	return func(o *options) {
 		o.requireJava = true
 	}
@@ -176,7 +178,7 @@ func run(t *testing.T, actionsOrOptions ...ActionOrOption) {
 		Infof("Building ftl")
 		err = ftlexec.Command(ctx, log.Debug, rootDir, "just", "build", "ftl").RunBuffered(ctx)
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
-		if opts.requireJava {
+		if opts.requireJava || slices.Contains(opts.languages, "java") {
 			err = ftlexec.Command(ctx, log.Debug, rootDir, "just", "build-java", "-DskipTests").RunBuffered(ctx)
 			assert.NoError(t, err)
 		}
diff --git a/java-runtime/java_integration_test.go b/java-runtime/java_integration_test.go
index 1b1b58d62f..ef7b415c92 100644
--- a/java-runtime/java_integration_test.go
+++ b/java-runtime/java_integration_test.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ func TestJavaToGoCall(t *testing.T) {
 		StringField: "obj",
 		BytesField:  []byte{87, 2, 9},
 		BoolField:   true,
-		TimeField:   time.Now().Local(),
+		TimeField:   time.Now().UTC(),
 		ArrayField:  []string{"foo", "bar"},
 		MapField:    map[string]string{"gar": "har"},
 	}
@@ -105,7 +105,6 @@ func TestJavaToGoCall(t *testing.T) {
 	//tests = append(tests, PairedPrefixVerbTest("nilvalue", "optionalTestObjectOptionalFieldsVerb", ftl.None[any]())...)
 
 	in.Run(t,
-		in.WithJava(),
 		in.WithLanguages("java"),
 		in.CopyModule("gomodule"),
 		in.CopyModule("javamodule"),