diff --git a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java
index 93096c73903..248a058000d 100644
--- a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java
+++ b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2015 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ import org.springframework.boot.loader.util.SystemPropertyUtils;
  *
  * @author Dave Syer
  * @author Janne Valkealahti
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
  */
 public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 
@@ -132,6 +133,8 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 
 	private final File home;
 
+	private final JavaAgentDetector javaAgentDetector;
+
 	private List<String> paths = new ArrayList<String>(DEFAULT_PATHS);
 
 	private final Properties properties = new Properties();
@@ -139,11 +142,16 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 	private Archive parent;
 
 	public PropertiesLauncher() {
+		this(new InputArgumentsJavaAgentDetector());
+	}
+
+	PropertiesLauncher(JavaAgentDetector javaAgentDetector) {
 		if (!isDebug()) {
 			this.logger.setLevel(Level.SEVERE);
 		}
 		try {
 			this.home = getHomeDirectory();
+			this.javaAgentDetector = javaAgentDetector;
 			initializeProperties(this.home);
 			initializePaths();
 			this.parent = createArchive();
@@ -517,21 +525,12 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 		ClassLoader parentClassLoader = getClass().getClassLoader();
 		List<Archive> urls = new ArrayList<Archive>();
 		for (URL url : getURLs(parentClassLoader)) {
-			if (url.toString().endsWith(".jar") || url.toString().endsWith(".zip")) {
-				urls.add(new JarFileArchive(new File(url.toURI())));
-			}
-			else if (url.toString().endsWith("/*")) {
-				String name = url.getFile();
-				File dir = new File(name.substring(0, name.length() - 1));
-				if (dir.exists()) {
-					urls.add(new ExplodedArchive(
-							new File(name.substring(0, name.length() - 1)), false));
+			if (!this.javaAgentDetector.isJavaAgentJar(url)) {
+				Archive archive = createArchiveIfPossible(url);
+				if (archive != null) {
+					urls.add(archive);
 				}
 			}
-			else {
-				String filename = URLDecoder.decode(url.getFile(), "UTF-8");
-				urls.add(new ExplodedArchive(new File(filename)));
-			}
 		}
 		// The parent archive might have a "lib/" directory, meaning we are running from
 		// an executable JAR. We add nested entries from there with low priority (i.e. at
@@ -545,6 +544,26 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 		}
 	}
 
+	private Archive createArchiveIfPossible(URL url)
+			throws IOException, URISyntaxException {
+		if (url.toString().endsWith(".jar") || url.toString().endsWith(".zip")) {
+			return new JarFileArchive(new File(url.toURI()));
+		}
+		else if (url.toString().endsWith("/*")) {
+			String name = url.getFile();
+			File dir = new File(name.substring(0, name.length() - 1));
+			if (dir.exists()) {
+				return new ExplodedArchive(new File(name.substring(0, name.length() - 1)),
+						false);
+			}
+		}
+		else {
+			String filename = URLDecoder.decode(url.getFile(), "UTF-8");
+			return new ExplodedArchive(new File(filename));
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
 	private void addNestedArchivesFromParent(List<Archive> urls) {
 		int index = findArchive(urls, this.parent);
 		if (index >= 0) {
diff --git a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java
index 64367294e84..356f71efcea 100644
--- a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2016 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -22,32 +22,45 @@ import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLClassLoader;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
 
 import org.springframework.boot.loader.archive.Archive;
 import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.given;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 
 /**
  * Tests for {@link PropertiesLauncher}.
  *
  * @author Dave Syer
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
  */
 public class PropertiesLauncherTests {
 
+	@Mock
+	private JavaAgentDetector javaAgentDetector;
+
 	@Rule
 	public OutputCapture output = new OutputCapture();
 
 	@Before
 	public void setup() throws IOException {
+		MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this);
 		System.setProperty("loader.home",
 				new File("src/test/resources").getAbsolutePath());
 	}
@@ -175,6 +188,22 @@ public class PropertiesLauncherTests {
 		assertEquals("[foo, bar]", Arrays.asList(launcher.getArgs("bar")).toString());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testJavaAgentJarsAreExcludedFromClasspath() throws Exception {
+		List<Archive> allArchives = new PropertiesLauncher().getClassPathArchives();
+		URL[] parentUrls = ((URLClassLoader) getClass().getClassLoader()).getURLs();
+		for (URL url : parentUrls) {
+			given(this.javaAgentDetector.isJavaAgentJar(url)).willReturn(true);
+		}
+		List<Archive> nonAgentArchives = new PropertiesLauncher(this.javaAgentDetector)
+				.getClassPathArchives();
+		assertThat(nonAgentArchives.size(),
+				is(equalTo(allArchives.size() - parentUrls.length)));
+		for (URL url : parentUrls) {
+			verify(this.javaAgentDetector).isJavaAgentJar(url);
+		}
+	}
+
 	private void waitFor(String value) throws Exception {
 		int count = 0;
 		boolean timeout = false;