diff --git a/modules/maven/s2i/artifacts/s2i/maven-s2i b/modules/maven/s2i/artifacts/s2i/maven-s2i
index fb433d29..97f749e4 100644
--- a/modules/maven/s2i/artifacts/s2i/maven-s2i
+++ b/modules/maven/s2i/artifacts/s2i/maven-s2i
@@ -36,10 +36,6 @@ function maven_s2i_init() {
   # Location of archived local Maven repository.  Used with incremental builds.
   _MAVEN_S2I_ARCHIVED_REPO="${S2I_ARTIFACTS_DIR}/m2"
 
-  # include maven scripts
-  if test -r "${JBOSS_CONTAINER_MAVEN_DEFAULT_MODULE}"/scl-enable-maven; then
-	  source "${JBOSS_CONTAINER_MAVEN_DEFAULT_MODULE}"/scl-enable-maven
-  fi
   source "${JBOSS_CONTAINER_MAVEN_DEFAULT_MODULE}"/maven.sh
 
   # Overrides for use with maven s2i
diff --git a/modules/run/artifacts/run-java.sh b/modules/run/artifacts/run-java.sh
index 21720628..92654ab9 100755
--- a/modules/run/artifacts/run-java.sh
+++ b/modules/run/artifacts/run-java.sh
@@ -247,4 +247,14 @@ startup() {
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Fire up
-startup $*
+
+if [ "${S2I_TARGET_DEPLOYMENTS_DIR-}" ]; then
+  run="${S2I_TARGET_DEPLOYMENTS_DIR}/bin/run.sh"
+  if [ -f "$run" ]; then
+      echo "Starting the application using the bundled $run …"
+      exec "$run" $* ${JAVA_ARGS}
+  fi
+fi
+
+echo "Starting the Java application using ${JBOSS_CONTAINER_JAVA_RUN_MODULE}/run-java.sh $* …"
+startup $* ${JAVA_ARGS}
diff --git a/modules/run/tests/features/java.runtime.feature b/modules/run/tests/features/java.runtime.feature
index f1225c4a..65c5dee8 100644
--- a/modules/run/tests/features/java.runtime.feature
+++ b/modules/run/tests/features/java.runtime.feature
@@ -15,3 +15,11 @@ Feature: Openshift OpenJDK Runtime tests (OPENJDK-474, OPENJDK-2805)
      And file /usr/libexec/s2i/run should exist
      And file /usr/libexec/s2i/run should not contain JVM_ARGS
      And container log should not contain unique unique
+
+  @ubi9
+  # alternative to one of previous steps, for runtime images
+  Scenario: OPENJDK-2968 Ensure JAVA_ARGS is passed to the running Java application
+    Given container is started with env
+       | variable    | value                 |
+       | JAVA_ARGS   | Hello from Cekit test |
+    Then container log should match regex ^INFO exec -a "java" java.*Hello from Cekit test$
diff --git a/modules/s2i/bash/artifacts/local/run b/modules/s2i/bash/artifacts/local/run
index 0c6f5718..d2fc3996 100755
--- a/modules/s2i/bash/artifacts/local/run
+++ b/modules/s2i/bash/artifacts/local/run
@@ -11,12 +11,4 @@ source "${JBOSS_CONTAINER_JAVA_S2I_MODULE}/s2i-core-hooks"
 # Global S2I variable setup
 s2i_core_env_init
 
-export JAVA_OPTS
-
-if [ -f "${S2I_TARGET_DEPLOYMENTS_DIR}/bin/run.sh" ]; then
-    echo "Starting the application using the bundled ${S2I_TARGET_DEPLOYMENTS_DIR}/bin/run.sh ..."
-    exec ${DEPLOYMENTS_DIR}/bin/run.sh $args ${JAVA_ARGS}
-else
-    echo "Starting the Java application using ${JBOSS_CONTAINER_JAVA_RUN_MODULE}/run-java.sh $args..."
-    exec "${JBOSS_CONTAINER_JAVA_RUN_MODULE}/run-java.sh" $args ${JAVA_ARGS}
-fi
+exec "${JBOSS_CONTAINER_JAVA_RUN_MODULE}/run-java.sh" $args
diff --git a/modules/s2i/bash/tests/features/run.feature b/modules/s2i/bash/tests/features/run.feature
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..90fcf18c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/s2i/bash/tests/features/run.feature
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+@ubi9/openjdk-11
+@ubi9/openjdk-17
+@ubi9/openjdk-21
+Feature: S2I run script tests
+ 
+  Scenario: OPENJDK-2968 application run script is invoked instead of image run script
+      Given s2i build https://github.com/jmtd/openjdk-test-applications from OPENJDK-2968-bin-custom-run with env using OPENJDK-2968-custom-run
+       | variable     | value      |
+       | JAVA_ARGS    | percolated |
+      Then container log should not contain Starting the Java application using /opt/jboss/container/java/run/run-java.sh
+      And  container log should contain hello world
+      And  container log should contain args=percolated