diff --git a/compiler/src/dotty/tools/dotc/config/PathResolver.scala b/compiler/src/dotty/tools/dotc/config/PathResolver.scala
index f60727e6bba2..67be0e3587cb 100644
--- a/compiler/src/dotty/tools/dotc/config/PathResolver.scala
+++ b/compiler/src/dotty/tools/dotc/config/PathResolver.scala
@@ -53,8 +53,7 @@ object PathResolver {
     def classPathEnv: String        =  envOrElse("CLASSPATH", "")
     def sourcePathEnv: String       =  envOrElse("SOURCEPATH", "")
 
-    //using propOrNone/getOrElse instead of propOrElse so that searchForBootClasspath is lazy evaluated
-    def javaBootClassPath: String   = propOrNone("sun.boot.class.path") getOrElse searchForBootClasspath
+    def javaBootClassPath: String   = propOrElse("sun.boot.class.path", searchForBootClasspath)
 
     def javaExtDirs: String         = propOrEmpty("java.ext.dirs")
     def scalaHome: String           = propOrEmpty("scala.home")