diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
index 46dd3b902dc12..3103f23472ed7 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/BuildPlugin.groovy
@@ -221,6 +221,23 @@ class BuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
         return System.getenv('JAVA' + version + '_HOME')
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get Java home for the project for the specified version. If the specified version is not configured, an exception with the specified
+     * message is thrown.
+     *
+     * @param project the project
+     * @param version the version of Java home to obtain
+     * @param message the exception message if Java home for the specified version is not configured
+     * @return Java home for the specified version
+     * @throws GradleException if Java home for the specified version is not configured
+     */
+    static String getJavaHome(final Project project, final int version, final String message) {
+        if (project.javaVersions.get(version) == null) {
+            throw new GradleException(message)
+        }
+        return project.javaVersions.get(version)
+    }
+
     private static String findRuntimeJavaHome(final String compilerJavaHome) {
         assert compilerJavaHome != null
         return System.getenv('RUNTIME_JAVA_HOME') ?: compilerJavaHome
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/NodeInfo.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/NodeInfo.groovy
index 9ea5d5aff8f02..1744214fcc393 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/NodeInfo.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/NodeInfo.groovy
@@ -16,21 +16,22 @@
  * specific language governing permissions and limitations
  * under the License.
  */
+
 package org.elasticsearch.gradle.test
 
 import com.sun.jna.Native
 import com.sun.jna.WString
 import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.condition.Os
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.Version
-import org.gradle.api.GradleException
 import org.gradle.api.InvalidUserDataException
-import org.gradle.api.JavaVersion
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 
 import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.Path
 import java.nio.file.Paths
 
+import static org.elasticsearch.gradle.BuildPlugin.getJavaHome
+
 /**
  * A container for the files and configuration associated with a single node in a test cluster.
  */
@@ -165,24 +166,14 @@ class NodeInfo {
         }
 
         final String javaHome
-        final Map<Integer, JavaVersion> javaVersions = project.javaVersions
         if (nodeVersion.before("6.2.0")) {
-            final String java8Home = javaVersions.get(8)
-            if (java8Home == null) {
-                throw new GradleException("JAVA8_HOME must be set to run BWC tests against [" + nodeVersion + "]")
-            }
-            javaHome = java8Home
+            env = ['JAVA_HOME':"${-> getJavaHome(project, 8, "JAVA8_HOME must be set to run BWC tests against [" + nodeVersion + "]")}"]
         } else if (nodeVersion.onOrAfter("6.2.0") && nodeVersion.before("6.3.0")) {
-            final String java9Home = javaVersions.get(9)
-            if (java9Home == null) {
-                throw new GradleException("JAVA9_HOME must be set to run BWC tests against [" + nodeVersion + "]")
-            }
-            javaHome = java9Home
+            env = ['JAVA_HOME':"${-> getJavaHome(project, 9, "JAVA9_HOME must be set to run BWC tests against [" + nodeVersion + "]")}"]
         } else {
-            javaHome = project.compilerJavaHome
+            env = ['JAVA_HOME':project.runtimeJavaHome]
         }
 
-        env = ['JAVA_HOME':javaHome]
         args.addAll("-E", "node.portsfile=true")
         String collectedSystemProperties = config.systemProperties.collect { key, value -> "-D${key}=${value}" }.join(" ")
         String esJavaOpts = config.jvmArgs.isEmpty() ? collectedSystemProperties : collectedSystemProperties + " " + config.jvmArgs
diff --git a/distribution/bwc/build.gradle b/distribution/bwc/build.gradle
index eea0c3952b57d..7f12e357ec9ff 100644
--- a/distribution/bwc/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/bwc/build.gradle
@@ -17,11 +17,12 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
+
 import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.condition.Os
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.LoggedExec
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.Version
 
-import java.util.regex.Matcher
+import static org.elasticsearch.gradle.BuildPlugin.getJavaHome
 
 /**
  * This is a dummy project which does a local checkout of the previous
@@ -146,15 +147,9 @@ subprojects {
     workingDir = checkoutDir
     if (["5.6", "6.0", "6.1"].contains(bwcBranch)) {
       // we are building branches that are officially built with JDK 8, push JAVA8_HOME to JAVA_HOME for these builds
-      if (project.javaVersions.get(8) == null) {
-        throw new GradleException("JAVA8_HOME is required to build BWC versions for BWC branch [" + bwcBranch + "]")
-      }
-      environment('JAVA_HOME', project.javaVersions.get(8))
+      environment('JAVA_HOME', "${-> getJavaHome(project, 8, "JAVA8_HOME is required to build BWC versions for BWC branch [" + bwcBranch + "]")}")
     } else if ("6.2".equals(bwcBranch)) {
-      if (project.javaVersions.get(9) == null) {
-        throw new GradleException("JAVA9_HOME is required to build BWC versions for BWC branch [" + bwcBranch + "]")
-      }
-      environment('JAVA_HOME', project.javaVersions.get(9))
+      environment('JAVA_HOME', "${-> getJavaHome(project, 9, "JAVA9_HOME is required to build BWC versions for BWC branch [" + bwcBranch + "]")}")
     } else {
       environment('JAVA_HOME', project.compilerJavaHome)
     }
diff --git a/qa/reindex-from-old/build.gradle b/qa/reindex-from-old/build.gradle
index 4fe481543c336..c4b4927a4a2b1 100644
--- a/qa/reindex-from-old/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/reindex-from-old/build.gradle
@@ -24,8 +24,11 @@ should be able to use the standard launching mechanism which
 is more flexible and reliable.
 """
 
+
 import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.condition.Os
 
+import static org.elasticsearch.gradle.BuildPlugin.getJavaHome
+
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.standalone-rest-test'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.rest-test'
 
@@ -55,9 +58,6 @@ if (Os.isFamily(Os.FAMILY_WINDOWS)) {
   // we can't get the pid files in windows so we skip that
   integTest.enabled = false
 } else {
-  if (project.javaVersions.get(7) == null) {
-    throw new GradleException("JAVA7_HOME must be set to run reindex-from-old")
-  }
   /* Set up tasks to unzip and run the old versions of ES before running the
    * integration tests. */
   for (String version : ['2', '1', '090']) {
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ if (Os.isFamily(Os.FAMILY_WINDOWS)) {
       dependsOn unzip
       executable = new File(project.runtimeJavaHome, 'bin/java')
       env 'CLASSPATH', "${ -> project.configurations.oldesFixture.asPath }"
-      env 'JAVA_HOME', project.javaVersions.get(7)
+      env 'JAVA_HOME', "${-> getJavaHome(project, 7, "JAVA7_HOME must be set to run reindex-from-old")}"
       args 'oldes.OldElasticsearch',
            baseDir,
            unzip.temporaryDir,