diff --git a/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/ProjectCreator.java b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/ProjectCreator.java
index 8bea9ef8036..ff531c40124 100644
--- a/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/ProjectCreator.java
+++ b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/ProjectCreator.java
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ import org.springframework.util.FileSystemUtils;
  */
 public class ProjectCreator {
 
+	private String gradleVersion;
+
+	public ProjectCreator() {
+		this("1.12");
+	}
+
+	public ProjectCreator(String gradleVersion) {
+		this.gradleVersion = gradleVersion;
+	}
+
 	public ProjectConnection createProject(String name) throws IOException {
 		File projectDirectory = new File("target/" + name);
 		projectDirectory.mkdirs();
@@ -46,7 +56,7 @@ public class ProjectCreator {
 		}
 
 		GradleConnector gradleConnector = GradleConnector.newConnector();
-		gradleConnector.useGradleVersion("1.12");
+		gradleConnector.useGradleVersion(this.gradleVersion);
 
 		((DefaultGradleConnector) gradleConnector).embedded(true);
 		return gradleConnector.forProjectDirectory(projectDirectory).connect();
diff --git a/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringLoadedTests.java b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringLoadedTests.java
index 5cd2f78ab47..996cce67bc4 100644
--- a/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringLoadedTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringLoadedTests.java
@@ -60,6 +60,21 @@ public class SpringLoadedTests {
 				"-javaagent:.*springloaded-" + SPRING_LOADED_VERSION + ".jar", output);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void springLoadedCanBeUsedWithGradle16() throws IOException {
+		ProjectConnection project = new ProjectCreator("1.6")
+				.createProject("spring-loaded-old-gradle");
+		project.newBuild()
+				.forTasks("bootRun")
+				.withArguments("-PbootVersion=" + BOOT_VERSION,
+						"-PspringLoadedVersion=" + SPRING_LOADED_VERSION, "--stacktrace")
+				.run();
+
+		List<String> output = getOutput();
+		assertOutputMatches(
+				"-javaagent:.*springloaded-" + SPRING_LOADED_VERSION + ".jar", output);
+	}
+
 	private List<String> getOutput() throws IOException {
 		BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(new File(
 				"target/spring-loaded-jvm-args/build/output.txt")));
diff --git a/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/resources/spring-loaded-old-gradle/build.gradle b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/resources/spring-loaded-old-gradle/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..70d15523ad3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/resources/spring-loaded-old-gradle/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+buildscript {
+	repositories {
+		mavenLocal()
+		mavenCentral()
+	}
+	dependencies {
+		classpath("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-gradle-plugin:${project.bootVersion}")
+		classpath("org.springframework:springloaded:${project.springLoadedVersion}")
+	}
+}
+
+apply plugin: 'java'
+apply plugin: 'spring-boot'
+
+repositories {
+	mavenLocal()
+	mavenCentral()
+}
+
+dependencies {
+	compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter")
+}
+
+jar {
+	baseName = 'spring-loaded-old-gradle'
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/resources/spring-loaded-old-gradle/src/main/java/test/Application.java b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/resources/spring-loaded-old-gradle/src/main/java/test/Application.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..12b8be6e6dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot-integration-tests/src/test/resources/spring-loaded-old-gradle/src/main/java/test/Application.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package test;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileWriter;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.lang.management.ManagementFactory;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
+import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.EnableAutoConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+
+public class Application {
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+    	PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(new FileWriter(new File("build/output.txt")));
+    	for (String argument: ManagementFactory.getRuntimeMXBean().getInputArguments()) {
+    		writer.println(argument);
+    	}
+    	writer.close();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/boot/gradle/run/RunPluginFeatures.java b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/boot/gradle/run/RunPluginFeatures.java
index 99c9b84d76e..8f6feb2a503 100644
--- a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/boot/gradle/run/RunPluginFeatures.java
+++ b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/springframework/boot/gradle/run/RunPluginFeatures.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package org.springframework.boot.gradle.run;
 
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 
 import org.gradle.api.Action;
@@ -74,9 +75,14 @@ public class RunPluginFeatures implements PluginFeatures {
 		run.getConventionMapping().map("jvmArgs", new Callable<Object>() {
 			@Override
 			public Object call() throws Exception {
-				return project.property("applicationDefaultJvmArgs");
+				if (project.hasProperty("applicationDefaultJvmArgs")) {
+					return project.property("applicationDefaultJvmArgs");
+				}
+				else {
+					return Collections.emptyList();
+				}
+
 			}
 		});
 	}
-
 }