diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/JarHell.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/JarHell.java
index 5ab6350e729..a461b472a55 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/JarHell.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/bootstrap/JarHell.java
@@ -64,16 +64,23 @@ class JarHell {
                     while (elements.hasMoreElements()) {
                         String entry = elements.nextElement().getName();
                         if (entry.endsWith(".class")) {
+                            // for jar format, the separator is defined as /
+                            entry = entry.replace('/', '.').substring(0, entry.length() - 6);
                             checkClass(clazzes, entry, url);
                         }
                     }
                 }
             } else {
-                Files.walkFileTree(PathUtils.get(url.toURI()), new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
+                // case for tests: where we have class files in the classpath
+                final Path root = PathUtils.get(url.toURI());
+                final String sep = root.getFileSystem().getSeparator();
+                Files.walkFileTree(root, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
                     @Override
                     public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
-                        String entry = file.toString();
+                        String entry = root.relativize(file).toString();
                         if (entry.endsWith(".class")) {
+                            // normalize with the os separator
+                            entry = entry.replace(sep, ".").substring(0,  entry.length() - 6);
                             checkClass(clazzes, entry, url);
                         }
                         return super.visitFile(file, attrs);
@@ -85,10 +92,10 @@ class JarHell {
     
     @SuppressForbidden(reason = "proper use of URL to reduce noise")
     static void checkClass(Map<String,URL> clazzes, String clazz, URL url) {
-        if (clazz.startsWith("org/apache/log4j")) {
+        if (clazz.startsWith("org.apache.log4j")) {
             return; // go figure, jar hell for what should be System.out.println...
         }
-        if (clazz.equals("org/joda/time/base/BaseDateTime.class")) {
+        if (clazz.equals("org.joda.time.base.BaseDateTime")) {
             return; // apparently this is intentional... clean this up
         }
         URL previous = clazzes.put(clazz, url);
diff --git a/plugins/cloud-azure/pom.xml b/plugins/cloud-azure/pom.xml
index f6c8b42601e..ec48e39af91 100644
--- a/plugins/cloud-azure/pom.xml
+++ b/plugins/cloud-azure/pom.xml
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ governing permissions and limitations under the License. -->
             <groupId>com.microsoft.azure</groupId>
             <artifactId>azure-management-compute</artifactId>
             <version>0.7.0</version>
+            <exclusions>
+                <exclusion>
+                    <groupId>stax</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>stax-api</artifactId>
+                </exclusion>
+            </exclusions>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.microsoft.azure</groupId>
diff --git a/plugins/cloud-gce/pom.xml b/plugins/cloud-gce/pom.xml
index 926a94a2dab..1640df98465 100644
--- a/plugins/cloud-gce/pom.xml
+++ b/plugins/cloud-gce/pom.xml
@@ -43,6 +43,12 @@ governing permissions and limitations under the License. -->
           <groupId>com.google.apis</groupId>
           <artifactId>google-api-services-compute</artifactId>
           <version>${google.gce.version}</version>
+          <exclusions>
+              <exclusion>
+                 <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
+                 <artifactId>guava-jdk5</artifactId>
+              </exclusion>
+          </exclusions>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>