diff --git a/Package.swift b/Package.swift
index 81d53b1d4..ce2ef3a96 100644
--- a/Package.swift
+++ b/Package.swift
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ func findJavaHome() -> String {
     return home
   }
 
+
+  if ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["SPI_BUILD"] == "1" {
+    // just ignore that we're missing a JAVA_HOME when building in Swift Package Index
+    return ""
+  }
   fatalError("Please set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to point to where Java is installed.")
 }