diff --git a/dist/setup/index.js b/dist/setup/index.js
index dbd1eda5..6ae733cd 100644
--- a/dist/setup/index.js
+++ b/dist/setup/index.js
@@ -105060,7 +105060,8 @@ function run() {
                 core.debug("JAVA_VERSION input is empty, looking for .java-version file");
                 const versionFileName = '.java-version';
                 const contents = fs_1.default.readFileSync(versionFileName).toString().trim();
-                const version = semver.valid(contents);
+                const cleanedStr = semver.clean(' = v 2.1.5foo', { loose: true });
+                const version = semver.valid(cleanedStr);
                 core.info(version ? version : "not found");
                 versions.push(contents);
             }
diff --git a/src/setup-java.ts b/src/setup-java.ts
index 87c6beec..e6d2fb44 100644
--- a/src/setup-java.ts
+++ b/src/setup-java.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ async function run() {
       core.debug("JAVA_VERSION input is empty, looking for .java-version file")
       const versionFileName = '.java-version'
       const contents = fs.readFileSync(versionFileName).toString().trim();
-      const version = semver.valid(contents);
+      const cleanedStr = semver.clean(' = v 2.1.5foo', { loose: true })
+      const version = semver.valid(cleanedStr);
       core.info(version ? version : "not found")
       versions.push(contents)
     }