diff --git a/bin/logstash b/bin/logstash
index ef2a5d2b70d..6b2642430d6 100755
--- a/bin/logstash
+++ b/bin/logstash
@@ -9,13 +9,9 @@
 # See 'bin/logstash --help' for a list of commands.
 #
 # Supported environment variables:
-#   LS_JVM_OPTS="xxx" path to file with JVM options
-#   LS_JAVA_OPTS="xxx" to append extra options to the defaults JAVA_OPTS provided by logstash
-#   JAVA_OPTS="xxx" to *completely override* the default set of JAVA_OPTS provided by logstash
+#   LS_JAVA_OPTS="xxx" to append extra options to the JVM options provided by logstash
 #
 # Development environment variables:
-#   USE_RUBY=1 to force use the local "ruby" command to launch logstash instead of using the vendored JRuby
-#   USE_DRIP=1 to force use drip
 #   DEBUG=1 to output debugging information
 
 unset CDPATH
diff --git a/bin/logstash.lib.sh b/bin/logstash.lib.sh
index 76aa335f5ef..4074481eb65 100755
--- a/bin/logstash.lib.sh
+++ b/bin/logstash.lib.sh
@@ -28,25 +28,23 @@ export LOGSTASH_HOME
 SINCEDB_DIR="${LOGSTASH_HOME}"
 export SINCEDB_DIR
 
-# This block will iterate over the command-line args Logstash was started with
-# It will find the argument _after_ --path.settings and use that to attempt
-# to derive the location of an acceptable jvm.options file
-# It will do nothing if this is not found.
+# iterate over the command line args and look for the argument
+# after --path.settings to see if the jvm.options file is in
+# that path and set LS_JVM_OPTS accordingly
 # This fix is for #6379
-if [ -z "$LS_JVM_OPTS" ]; then
-  found=0
-  for i in "$@"; do
-     if [ $found -eq 1 ]; then
-       if [ -r "${i}/jvm.options" ]; then
-         export LS_JVM_OPTS="${i}/jvm.options"
-         break
-       fi
-     fi
-     if [ "$i" = "--path.settings" ]; then
-       found=1
-     fi
-  done
-fi
+unset LS_JVM_OPTS
+found=0
+for i in "$@"; do
+ if [ $found -eq 1 ]; then
+   if [ -r "${i}/jvm.options" ]; then
+     export LS_JVM_OPTS="${i}/jvm.options"
+     break
+   fi
+ fi
+ if [ "$i" = "--path.settings" ]; then
+   found=1
+ fi
+done
 
 parse_jvm_options() {
   if [ -f "$1" ]; then
@@ -55,26 +53,31 @@ parse_jvm_options() {
 }
 
 setup_java() {
-  if [ -z "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
-    if [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] ; then
-      JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
-    else
-      JAVACMD="java"
-    fi
+  # set the path to java into JAVACMD which will be picked up by JRuby to launch itself
+  if [ -x "$JAVA_HOME/bin/java" ]; then
+    JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
+  else
+    set +e
+    JAVACMD=`which java`
+    set -e
   fi
 
-  # Resolve full path to the java command.
-  if [ ! -f "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
-    JAVACMD="$(which $JAVACMD 2>/dev/null)"
+  if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ]; then
+    echo "could not find java; set JAVA_HOME or ensure java is in PATH"
+    exit 1
   fi
 
-  if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
-    echo "Could not find any executable java binary. Please install java in your PATH or set JAVA_HOME." 1>&2
-    exit 1
+  # do not let JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS slip in (as the JVM does by default)
+  if [ ! -z "$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS" ]; then
+    echo "warning: ignoring JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=$JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS"
+    unset JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS
   fi
 
-  if [ "$JAVA_OPTS" ] ; then
-    echo "WARNING: Default JAVA_OPTS will be overridden by the JAVA_OPTS defined in the environment. Environment JAVA_OPTS are $JAVA_OPTS"  1>&2
+  # JAVA_OPTS is not a built-in JVM mechanism but some people think it is so we
+  # warn them that we are not observing the value of $JAVA_OPTS
+  if [ ! -z "$JAVA_OPTS" ]; then
+    echo -n "warning: ignoring JAVA_OPTS=$JAVA_OPTS; "
+    echo "pass JVM parameters via LS_JAVA_OPTS"
   fi
 
   # Set a default GC log file for use by jvm.options _before_ it's called.
@@ -94,50 +97,15 @@ setup_java() {
           fi
       done
   fi
-  # use the defaults, first, then override with anything provided
+  # then override with anything provided
   LS_JAVA_OPTS="$(parse_jvm_options "$LS_JVM_OPTS") $LS_JAVA_OPTS"
+  JAVA_OPTS=$LS_JAVA_OPTS
 
-  if [ "$LS_JAVA_OPTS" ] ; then
-    # The client set the variable LS_JAVA_OPTS, choosing his own
-    # set of java opts.
-    JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS $LS_JAVA_OPTS"
-  fi
-
+  # jruby launcher uses JAVACMD as its java executable and JAVA_OPTS as the JVM options
   export JAVACMD
   export JAVA_OPTS
 }
 
-setup_drip() {
-  if [ -z "$DRIP_JAVACMD" ] ; then
-    JAVACMD="drip"
-  fi
-
-  # resolve full path to the drip command.
-  if [ ! -f "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
-    JAVACMD="$(which $JAVACMD 2>/dev/null)"
-  fi
-
-  if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
-    echo "Could not find executable drip binary. Please install drip in your PATH"
-    exit 1
-  fi
-
-  # faster JRuby startup options https://github.com/jruby/jruby/wiki/Improving-startup-time
-  # since we are using drip to speed up, we may as well throw these in also
-  if [ "$USE_RUBY" = "1" ] ; then
-    export JRUBY_OPTS="$JRUBY_OPTS -J-XX:+TieredCompilation -J-XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1 -J-noverify"
-  else
-    if [ -z "$JAVA_OPTS" ] ; then
-      LS_JAVA_OPTS="$LS_JAVA_OPTS -XX:+TieredCompilation -XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1 -noverify"
-    else
-      JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -XX:+TieredCompilation -XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1 -noverify"
-    fi
-  fi
-  export JAVACMD
-  export DRIP_INIT_CLASS="org.jruby.main.DripMain"
-  export DRIP_INIT=""
-}
-
 setup_vendored_jruby() {
   JRUBY_BIN="${LOGSTASH_HOME}/vendor/jruby/bin/jruby"
 
@@ -147,51 +115,16 @@ setup_vendored_jruby() {
     echo "If you are a developer, please run 'rake bootstrap'. Running 'rake' requires the 'ruby' program be available."
     exit 1
   fi
-  VENDORED_JRUBY=1
-}
-
-setup_ruby() {
-  RUBYCMD="ruby"
-  VENDORED_JRUBY=
 }
 
 setup() {
-  # first check if we want to use drip, which can be used in vendored jruby mode
-  # and also when setting USE_RUBY=1 if the ruby interpreter is in fact jruby
-  if [ "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
-    if [ "$(basename $JAVACMD)" = "drip" ] ; then
-      DRIP_JAVACMD=1
-      USE_DRIP=1
-    fi
-  fi
-  if [ "$USE_DRIP" = "1" ] ; then
-    setup_drip
-  fi
-
-  if [ "$USE_RUBY" = "1" ] ; then
-    setup_ruby
-  else
-    setup_java
-    setup_vendored_jruby
-  fi
+  setup_java
+  setup_vendored_jruby
 }
 
 ruby_exec() {
-  if [ -z "$VENDORED_JRUBY" ] ; then
-
-    # $VENDORED_JRUBY is empty so use the local "ruby" command
-
-    if [ "$DEBUG" ] ; then
-      echo "DEBUG: exec ${RUBYCMD} $@"
-    fi
-    exec "${RUBYCMD}" "$@"
-  else
-
-    # $VENDORED_JRUBY is non-empty so use the vendored JRuby
-
-    if [ "$DEBUG" ] ; then
-      echo "DEBUG: exec ${JRUBY_BIN} $@"
-    fi
-    exec "${JRUBY_BIN}" "$@"
+  if [ "$DEBUG" ] ; then
+    echo "DEBUG: exec ${JRUBY_BIN} $@"
   fi
+  exec "${JRUBY_BIN}" "$@"
 }
diff --git a/dripmain.rb b/dripmain.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 3631e39b66e..00000000000
--- a/dripmain.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-# dripmain.rb is called by org.jruby.main.DripMain to further warm the JVM with any preloading
-# that we can do to speedup future startup using drip.
-
-require_relative "lib/bootstrap/environment"
-LogStash::Bundler.setup!({:without => [:build]})
-require "logstash-core"
-
-# typical required gems and libs
-require "logstash/environment"
-LogStash::Environment.load_locale!
-
-require "cabin"
-require "stud/trap"
-require "stud/task"
-require "clamp"
-require "rspec"
-require "rspec/core/runner"
-
-require "logstash/namespace"
-require "logstash/agent"
-require "logstash/util"
-require "logstash/errors"
-require "logstash/pipeline"
-require "logstash/plugin"