diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
   private $interpreter;
   private $flags;
   private $versionRequirement;
+  private $interpreterFlags;
 
 
 /* -(  Interpreters, Binaries and Flags  )----------------------------------- */
@@ -197,6 +198,52 @@
     return $this;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Return array of flags needed by the interpreter, such as "-jar" when
+   * using java as the interpreter. This method is only invoked if
+   * @{method:shouldUseInterpreter} has been overridden to return 'true'.
+   *
+   * @return array Flags to pass to interpreter
+   * @task bin
+   */
+  protected function getDefaultInterpreterFlags() {
+    return array();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Provide mandatory, non-overridable flags to the linter interpreter.
+   * Generally these are arguments to configure invocation of the interpreter
+   * such as (assuming Java interpreter) `-Xmx1024m`, `-Dproperty=value`, or
+   * in the case of the binary being a jar file, the last one should be `-jar`.
+   *
+   * Due to the specific case of using java as interpreter and a jarfile as
+   * the binary, the `-jar` argument must appear last in the list of all
+   * flags passed to interpreter. For this, manadatory flags are ensured to
+   * always be listed before any default or user overridden flags.
+   *
+   * Flags which are not mandatory should be provided in
+   * @{method:getDefaultInterpreterFlags} instead.
+   *
+   * @return list<string>  Mandatory flags, like `"-jar"`.
+   * @task bin
+   */
+  protected function getMandatoryInterpreterFlags() {
+    return array();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Override default interpreter flags with custom flags. If not overridden,
+   * flags provided by @{method:getDefaultInterpreterFlags} are used.
+   *
+   * @param list<string> New flags for the interpreter.
+   * @return this
+   * @task bin
+   */
+  final public function setInterpreterFlags(array $interpreter_flags) {
+    $this->interpreterFlags = $interpreter_flags;
+    return $this;
+  }
+
 
 /* -(  Parsing Linter Output  )---------------------------------------------- */
 
@@ -351,14 +398,20 @@
     $this->checkBinaryConfiguration();
 
     $interpreter = null;
+    $interpreter_flags = array();
     if ($this->shouldUseInterpreter()) {
       $interpreter = $this->getInterpreter();
+      $interpreter_flags = $this->getInterpreterFlags();
     }
 
     $binary = $this->getBinary();
 
     if ($interpreter) {
-      $bin = csprintf('%s %s', $interpreter, $binary);
+      if (!empty($interpreter_flags)) {
+        $bin = csprintf('%s %Ls %s', $interpreter, $interpreter_flags, $binary);
+      } else {
+        $bin = csprintf('%s %s', $interpreter, $binary);
+      }
     } else {
       $bin = csprintf('%s', $binary);
     }
@@ -379,6 +432,23 @@
       nonempty($this->flags, $this->getDefaultFlags()));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Get the composed flags for the interpreter, including both mandatory and
+   * configured flags.
+   *
+   * @return list<string> Composed interpreter flags.
+   * @task exec
+   */
+  final protected function getInterpreterFlags() {
+    // Note that this forces the mandatory flags to appear before any other
+    // flags provided through default or overridden. This is to handle the
+    // the case of java interpreter needing to combine the `-jar` flag followed
+    // immediately by the binary which would be the jar file.
+    return array_merge(
+      nonempty($this->interpreterFlags, $this->getDefaultInterpreterFlags()),
+      $this->getMandatoryInterpreterFlags());
+  }
+
   public function getCacheVersion() {
     try {
       $this->checkBinaryConfiguration();
@@ -495,6 +565,13 @@
           'a list of possible interpreters, the first one that exists '.
           'will be used.'),
       );
+
+      $options['interpreter.flags'] = array(
+        'type' => 'optional list<string>',
+        'help' => pht(
+          'Provide a list of additional flags to pass to the interpreter on '.
+          'the command line.'),
+      );
     }
 
     return $options + parent::getLinterConfigurationOptions();
@@ -545,6 +622,9 @@
       case 'flags':
         $this->setFlags($value);
         return;
+      case 'interpreter.flags':
+        $this->setInterpreterFlags($value);
+        return;
       case 'version':
         $this->setVersionRequirement($value);
         return;