diff --git a/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Cordformation.kt b/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Cordformation.kt
index a40e5f52ec..82a818992d 100644
--- a/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Cordformation.kt
+++ b/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Cordformation.kt
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ class Cordformation : Plugin<Project> {
     override fun apply(project: Project) {
         Utils.createCompileConfiguration("cordapp", project)
         Utils.createRuntimeConfiguration(CORDFORMATION_TYPE, project)
-        val jolokiaVersion = project.rootProject.ext<String>("jolokia_version")
+        // TODO: improve how we re-use existing declared external variables from root gradle.build
+        val jolokiaVersion = try { project.rootProject.ext<String>("jolokia_version") } catch (e: Exception) { "1.3.7" }
         project.dependencies.add(CORDFORMATION_TYPE, "org.jolokia:jolokia-jvm:$jolokiaVersion:agent")
     }
 }
diff --git a/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt b/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt
index f79249f82e..e7e5b3fc1c 100644
--- a/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt
+++ b/gradle-plugins/cordformation/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/plugins/Node.kt
@@ -128,7 +128,8 @@ class Node(private val project: Project) : CordformNode() {
      * Installs the jolokia monitoring agent JAR to the node/drivers directory
      */
     private fun installAgentJar() {
-        val jolokiaVersion = project.rootProject.ext<String>("jolokia_version")
+        // TODO: improve how we re-use existing declared external variables from root gradle.build
+        val jolokiaVersion = try { project.rootProject.ext<String>("jolokia_version") } catch (e: Exception) { "1.3.7" }
         val agentJar = project.configuration("runtime").files {
             (it.group == "org.jolokia") &&
                     (it.name == "jolokia-jvm") &&