diff --git a/presto-main/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/server/PrestoSystemRequirements.java b/presto-main/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/server/PrestoSystemRequirements.java
index 8ab70cb1dbef..7f9b88f27947 100644
--- a/presto-main/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/server/PrestoSystemRequirements.java
+++ b/presto-main/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/server/PrestoSystemRequirements.java
@@ -40,9 +40,30 @@ private PrestoSystemRequirements() {}
 
     public static void verifyJvmRequirements()
     {
+        String runtimeName = System.getProperty("java.runtime.name");
         String vendor = StandardSystemProperty.JAVA_VENDOR.value();
-        if (!"Oracle Corporation".equals(vendor)) {
-            failRequirement("Presto requires an Oracle or OpenJDK JVM (found %s)", vendor);
+
+        // The Oracle(TM) and IBM(TM) JVM runtimes both return:
+        // Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment
+        //
+        // OpenJDK runtimes return:
+        // OpenJDK Runtime Environment
+        //
+        // Querying java.runtime.name allows us to differentiate between an
+        // OpenJDK JVM and a non-OpenJDK JVM because many OpenJDK's will
+        // return "Oracle" as their vendor name. However, it doesn't allow us
+        // to distinguish between different vendors like IBM(TM) and Oracle(TM).
+        if (!"Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment".equals(runtimeName)) {
+            warnRequirement("Presto is running on an unsupported JVM runtime " +
+                    "(found %s) - only the Oracle(TM) runtime is supported",
+                    runtimeName);
+        // Querying java.vendor allows us to differentiate between a Oracle(TM)
+        // and a non-Oracle(TM) vendor like IBM(TM).
+        }
+        else if (!"Oracle Corporation".equals(vendor)) {
+            warnRequirement("Presto is running on a JVM from an unsupported " +
+                    "vendor (found %s) - the only supported vendor is " +
+                    "Oracle(TM)", vendor);
         }
 
         verifyJavaVersion();