diff --git a/start-minecraftFinalSetup b/start-minecraftFinalSetup
index e9920f11..9d2aa093 100644
--- a/start-minecraftFinalSetup
+++ b/start-minecraftFinalSetup
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ EOF
     if [ -f "${FTB_DIR}/settings.cfg" ]; then
       sed -i "s/MAX_RAM=[^;]*/MAX_RAM=${MAX_MEMORY}/" "${FTB_DIR}/settings.cfg"
     fi
+    # if missing shebang line, then run file through bash
+    if ! head -1 "${FTB_SERVER_START}"|grep -q "^#!"; then
+      mcServerRunnerArgs="${mcServerRunnerArgs} --shell bash"
+    fi
 
     cd "${FTB_DIR}"
     log "Running FTB ${FTB_SERVER_START} in ${FTB_DIR} ..."