diff --git a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/config/JvmContentRoots.kt b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/config/JvmContentRoots.kt
index 7130d305326..58408a35a02 100644
--- a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/config/JvmContentRoots.kt
+++ b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/config/JvmContentRoots.kt
@@ -91,15 +91,8 @@ val CompilerConfiguration.javaSourceRoots: Set<String>
 fun CompilerConfiguration.configureJdkClasspathRoots() {
     if (getBoolean(JVMConfigurationKeys.NO_JDK)) return
 
-    val jdkHome = get(JVMConfigurationKeys.JDK_HOME)
-    val (javaRoot, classesRoots) = if (jdkHome == null) {
-        val javaHome = File(System.getProperty("java.home"))
-        put(JVMConfigurationKeys.JDK_HOME, javaHome)
-
-        javaHome to PathUtil.getJdkClassesRootsFromCurrentJre()
-    } else {
-        jdkHome to PathUtil.getJdkClassesRoots(jdkHome)
-    }
+    val javaRoot = get(JVMConfigurationKeys.JDK_HOME) ?: File(System.getProperty("java.home"))
+    val classesRoots = PathUtil.getJdkClassesRootsFromJdkOrJre(javaRoot)
 
     if (!CoreJrtFileSystem.isModularJdk(javaRoot)) {
         if (classesRoots.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/jvmArguments.kt b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/jvmArguments.kt
index 8c75c28225c..b79aef1c93d 100644
--- a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/jvmArguments.kt
+++ b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/jvm/jvmArguments.kt
@@ -161,10 +161,12 @@ fun CompilerConfiguration.configureJdkHome(arguments: K2JVMCompilerArguments): B
             messageCollector.report(ERROR, "JDK home directory does not exist: $jdkHome")
             return false
         }
-
         messageCollector.report(LOGGING, "Using JDK home directory $jdkHome")
-
         put(JVMConfigurationKeys.JDK_HOME, jdkHome)
+    } else {
+        val javaHome = File(System.getProperty("java.home"))
+        messageCollector.report(LOGGING, "Using JDK home inferred from java.home: $javaHome")
+        put(JVMConfigurationKeys.JDK_HOME, javaHome)
     }
 
     return true
diff --git a/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected b/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected
index 8b9e0dea68c..794ebdcadd7 100644
--- a/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected
+++ b/compiler/testData/integration/ant/jvm/verbose/build.log.expected
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Buildfile: [TestData]/build.xml
 build:
   [kotlinc] Compiling [[TestData]/hello.kt] => [[Temp]/hello.jar]
   [kotlinc] logging: using Kotlin home directory [KotlinProjectHome]/dist/kotlinc
+  [kotlinc] logging: using JDK home inferred from java.home: [JavaHome]
   [kotlinc] logging: exception on loading scripting plugin: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.jetbrains.kotlin.scripting.compiler.plugin.ScriptingCompilerConfigurationComponentRegistrar
   [kotlinc] logging: using JVM IR backend
   [kotlinc] logging: configuring the compilation environment
diff --git a/compiler/tests-common/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/integration/KotlinIntegrationTestBase.java b/compiler/tests-common/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/integration/KotlinIntegrationTestBase.java
index d52cc3fe357..7e6412ef022 100644
--- a/compiler/tests-common/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/integration/KotlinIntegrationTestBase.java
+++ b/compiler/tests-common/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/integration/KotlinIntegrationTestBase.java
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ public abstract class KotlinIntegrationTestBase extends TestCaseWithTmpdir {
         content = normalizePath(content, tmpdir, "[Temp]");
         content = normalizePath(content, getCompilerLib(), "[CompilerLib]");
         content = normalizePath(content, new File(KtTestUtil.getHomeDirectory()), "[KotlinProjectHome]");
+        content = normalizePath(content, new File(System.getProperty("java.home")), "[JavaHome]");
         content = content.replaceAll(Pattern.quote(KotlinCompilerVersion.VERSION), "[KotlinVersion]");
         content = content.replaceAll("\\(JRE .+\\)", "(JRE [JREVersion])");
         content = StringUtil.convertLineSeparators(content);
diff --git a/compiler/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/LauncherScriptTest.kt b/compiler/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/LauncherScriptTest.kt
index 8fb80617c91..5705f4e0fed 100644
--- a/compiler/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/LauncherScriptTest.kt
+++ b/compiler/tests/org/jetbrains/kotlin/cli/LauncherScriptTest.kt
@@ -478,4 +478,28 @@ println(42)
             "kotlinc", "$testDataDirectory/interpreterClassLoader.kt", "-d", tmpdir.path
         )
     }
+
+    fun testImplicitModularJdk() {
+        // see KT-54337
+        val moduleInfo = tmpdir.resolve("module-info.java").apply {
+            writeText(
+                """
+                    module test {
+                        requires kotlin.stdlib;
+                    }
+                """.trimIndent()
+            )
+        }
+        val testKt = tmpdir.resolve("test.kt").apply {
+            writeText("fun main() {}")
+        }
+        val jdk11 = mapOf("JAVA_HOME" to KtTestUtil.getJdk11Home().absolutePath)
+        runProcess(
+            "kotlinc", moduleInfo.absolutePath, testKt.absolutePath, "-d", tmpdir.path,
+            environment = jdk11,
+            expectedExitCode = 0,
+            expectedStdout = "",
+            expectedStderr = ""
+        )
+    }
 }
diff --git a/compiler/util/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/utils/PathUtil.kt b/compiler/util/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/utils/PathUtil.kt
index 4672c68a10a..c2b1e88475e 100644
--- a/compiler/util/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/utils/PathUtil.kt
+++ b/compiler/util/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/utils/PathUtil.kt
@@ -185,4 +185,10 @@ object PathUtil {
     @JvmStatic
     fun getJdkClassesRoots(jdkHome: File): List<File> =
             JavaSdkUtil.getJdkClassesRoots(jdkHome, false)
+
+    @JvmStatic
+    fun getJdkClassesRootsFromJdkOrJre(javaRoot: File): List<File> {
+        val isJdk = File(javaRoot, "jre/lib").exists()
+        return JavaSdkUtil.getJdkClassesRoots(javaRoot, !isJdk)
+    }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/impl/ScriptJvmCompilerImpls.kt b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/impl/ScriptJvmCompilerImpls.kt
index 0c835a306dc..e379db6ceda 100644
--- a/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/impl/ScriptJvmCompilerImpls.kt
+++ b/plugins/scripting/scripting-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/scripting/compiler/plugin/impl/ScriptJvmCompilerImpls.kt
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.jvm.compiler.KotlinCoreEnvironment
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.jvm.compiler.NoScopeRecordCliBindingTrace
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.jvm.compiler.TopDownAnalyzerFacadeForJVM
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.jvm.config.JvmClasspathRoot
+import org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.jvm.config.JvmModulePathRoot
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.codegen.ClassBuilderFactories
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.codegen.DefaultCodegenFactory
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.codegen.KotlinCodegenFacade
@@ -144,7 +145,13 @@ private fun compileImpl(
             // TODO: make this logic obsolete by injecting classpath earlier in the pipeline
             val depsFromConfiguration = get(dependencies)?.flatMapTo(HashSet()) { (it as? JvmDependency)?.classpath ?: emptyList() }
             val depsFromCompiler = context.environment.configuration.getList(CLIConfigurationKeys.CONTENT_ROOTS)
-                .mapNotNull { if (it is JvmClasspathRoot && !it.isSdkRoot) it.file else null }
+                .mapNotNull {
+                    when {
+                        it is JvmClasspathRoot && !it.isSdkRoot -> it.file
+                        it is JvmModulePathRoot -> it.file
+                        else -> null
+                    }
+                }
             if (!depsFromConfiguration.isNullOrEmpty()) {
                 val missingDeps = depsFromCompiler.filter { !depsFromConfiguration.contains(it) }
                 if (missingDeps.isNotEmpty()) {