diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index a7ff961b4..0d2292965 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -19,9 +19,8 @@ doc/
 datasets/
 tmp/
 
-# Build artifacts — rebuilt inside the image by `rake wasm:jruby_setup`
+# Build artifact — rebuilt inside the image by `rake wasm:jruby_setup`
 lib/rbs/wasm/*.wasm
-lib/rbs/wasm/jars/
 *.gem
 ext/**/*.o
 ext/**/*.so
diff --git a/.github/workflows/jruby.yml b/.github/workflows/jruby.yml
index c9131094f..8b4dbbaf1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/jruby.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/jruby.yml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p "$HOME/wasi-sdk"
           curl -sSL "$url" | tar xz --strip-components=1 -C "$HOME/wasi-sdk"
           echo "WASI_SDK_PATH=$HOME/wasi-sdk" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-      - name: Assemble the JRuby runtime (rbs_parser.wasm + Chicory jars)
+      - name: Build rbs_parser.wasm
         run: bundle exec rake wasm:jruby_setup
 
       - name: Set up JRuby
@@ -63,5 +63,10 @@ jobs:
           bundler: none
       - name: Install runtime and test gems
         run: gem install prism rake rake-compiler test-unit rdoc rspec minitest json-schema pry --no-document
+      # jar-dependencies resolves through the JVM, so download the Chicory/ASM
+      # jars into ~/.m2 here on JRuby (jar-dependencies is not available in the
+      # CRuby step above).
+      - name: Download the Chicory and ASM jars
+        run: jruby -S rake wasm:install_jars
       - name: Run the test suite on JRuby
         run: jruby -S rake test
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 93c5b4a5c..9ab87e2db 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ rust/ruby-rbs/vendor/rbs/
 # Compiled WebAssembly module (built by rake wasm:build)
 wasm/*.wasm
 
-# JRuby runtime artifacts (assembled by rake wasm:jruby_setup, bundled in the JRuby gem)
+# JRuby runtime artifact (built by rake wasm:jruby_setup, bundled in the -java
+# gem). The require_jar file lib/rbs_jars.rb is committed; the Chicory/ASM jars
+# themselves live in ~/.m2 (jar-dependencies), not here.
 lib/rbs/wasm/*.wasm
-lib/rbs/wasm/jars/
diff --git a/Dockerfile.jruby b/Dockerfile.jruby
index 95715cffb..8d23516bd 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.jruby
+++ b/Dockerfile.jruby
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 # RBS can't load its MRI C extension on JRuby, so it parses through a
 # WebAssembly build of the parser (see lib/rbs/wasm and docs/wasm_serialization.md).
 # This single-stage image installs the WASI SDK, compiles rbs_parser.wasm and
-# vendors the Chicory/ASM jars into lib/rbs/wasm/, then runs the test suite on
-# JRuby. It mirrors .github/workflows/jruby.yml but is fully self-contained.
+# downloads the Chicory/ASM jars into ~/.m2 (via jar-dependencies), then runs the
+# test suite on JRuby. It mirrors .github/workflows/jruby.yml but is self-contained.
 #
 #   docker build -f Dockerfile.jruby -t rbs-jruby .
 #   docker run --rm rbs-jruby                                  # run the test suite
@@ -46,9 +46,8 @@ RUN gem install prism rake rake-compiler test-unit rdoc rspec minitest json-sche
 WORKDIR /rbs
 COPY . .
 
-# Assemble the JRuby runtime: compile rbs_parser.wasm and download the
-# Chicory + ASM jars into lib/rbs/wasm/. Runs on JRuby (clang is a subprocess,
-# so the build is engine independent).
-RUN rake wasm:jruby_setup
+# Compile rbs_parser.wasm (clang is a subprocess, so the build is engine
+# independent) and download the Chicory + ASM jars into ~/.m2 via jar-dependencies.
+RUN rake wasm:jruby_setup wasm:install_jars
 
 CMD ["rake", "test"]
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index c5b2aacac..bc1f34f0a 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -627,40 +627,27 @@ namespace :wasm do
     end
   end
 
-  # Where the runtime looks for the module and jars by default (see
-  # RBS::WASM::Runtime). These are build artifacts, bundled into the JRuby gem.
+  # Where the runtime looks for the module by default (see RBS::WASM::Runtime).
   JRUBY_WASM_DIR = File.expand_path("lib/rbs/wasm", __dir__)
-  CHICORY_VERSION = ENV.fetch("CHICORY_VERSION", "1.7.5")
-  # `compiler` is Chicory's AOT compiler (wasm -> JVM bytecode); the asm* jars
-  # are the ow2 ASM libraries it depends on. Keep ASM_VERSION in sync with what
-  # the pinned Chicory release declares.
-  CHICORY_JARS = %w[wasm runtime log wasi compiler].freeze
-  ASM_VERSION = ENV.fetch("ASM_VERSION", "9.9.1")
-  ASM_JARS = %w[asm asm-tree asm-util asm-commons asm-analysis].freeze
-
-  desc "Download the Chicory and ASM jars the JRuby runtime needs into lib/rbs/wasm/jars"
-  task :vendor_jars do
-    require "open-uri"
-    require "fileutils"
-
-    jars_dir = File.join(JRUBY_WASM_DIR, "jars")
-    FileUtils.mkdir_p(jars_dir)
-
-    downloads = CHICORY_JARS.map { |name| ["#{name}.jar", "https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/dylibso/chicory/#{name}/#{CHICORY_VERSION}/#{name}-#{CHICORY_VERSION}.jar"] }
-    downloads += ASM_JARS.map { |name| ["#{name}.jar", "https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/ow2/asm/#{name}/#{ASM_VERSION}/#{name}-#{ASM_VERSION}.jar"] }
-
-    downloads.each do |filename, url|
-      puts "Downloading #{url}"
-      URI.open(url) { |io| File.binwrite(File.join(jars_dir, filename), io.read) } # steep:ignore
-    end
 
-    puts "Vendored Chicory #{CHICORY_VERSION} + ASM #{ASM_VERSION} into #{jars_dir}"
+  desc "Download the Chicory/ASM jars into the local Maven repository (~/.m2). Run on JRuby."
+  task :install_jars do
+    # Resolves the `jar` requirements from rbs.gemspec via Maven and downloads
+    # them (and their transitive deps) into ~/.m2, the same way `gem install`
+    # does; the jars are not copied into the gem. The platform is forced to java
+    # because Jars::Installer skips non-java gems, and write_require_file is false
+    # because lib/rbs_jars.rb is hand-maintained (the generator mangles the
+    # `com.dylibso.chicory:runtime` artifact id).
+    require "jars/installer"
+    spec = Gem::Specification.load("rbs.gemspec")
+    spec.platform = "java"
+    Jars::Installer.new(spec).install_jars(write_require_file: false)
   end
 
-  desc "Assemble everything the JRuby gem needs: the .wasm and the Chicory jars"
-  task :jruby_setup => [:build, :vendor_jars] do
+  desc "Build rbs_parser.wasm and copy it next to RBS::WASM::Runtime"
+  task :jruby_setup => [:build] do
     cp WASM_OUTPUT, File.join(JRUBY_WASM_DIR, "rbs_parser.wasm")
-    puts "JRuby runtime is ready under #{JRUBY_WASM_DIR}"
+    puts "rbs_parser.wasm is ready under #{JRUBY_WASM_DIR}"
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/Steepfile b/Steepfile
index d1bc69f40..e9267ee99 100644
--- a/Steepfile
+++ b/Steepfile
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ target :lib do
     "lib/rbs/wasm/location.rb",
     "lib/rbs/wasm/runtime.rb",
     "lib/rbs/wasm/parser.rb",
+    # Generated by `rake wasm:install_jars` (jar-dependencies require_jar calls).
+    "lib/rbs_jars.rb",
   )
 
   library "pathname", "json", "logger", "monitor", "tsort", "uri", 'dbm', 'pstore', 'singleton', 'shellwords', 'fileutils', 'find', 'digest', 'prettyprint', 'yaml', "psych", "securerandom"
diff --git a/docs/release.md b/docs/release.md
index 459195828..ced17b022 100644
--- a/docs/release.md
+++ b/docs/release.md
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@ Each release ships **two gems**:
 | `rbs-X.Y.Z.gem` | `ruby` (MRI) | C extension | `rake release` (re-builds it) |
 | `rbs-X.Y.Z-java.gem` | `java` (JRuby) | WebAssembly (`lib/rbs/wasm`) | Docker image, pushed manually |
 
-The `-java` gem contains no native code — just `rbs_parser.wasm` plus the
-Chicory/ASM jars — so it can be built once in any environment and runs on every
-JRuby.
+The `-java` gem contains no native code — just `rbs_parser.wasm`. The Chicory/ASM
+jars it needs are not shipped in the gem; they are declared as `jar-dependencies`
+requirements and fetched from Maven when the gem is installed. So the gem can be
+built once in any environment and runs on every JRuby.
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
@@ -44,7 +45,8 @@ The `java` gem is not built by `rake release`, so build and push it manually:
 # Build from the committed state (the gemspec's file list comes from `git ls-files`).
 $ docker build -f Dockerfile.jruby -t rbs-jruby .
 
-# Assemble rbs_parser.wasm + jars and build the -java gem into ./pkg on the host.
+# Build rbs_parser.wasm and the -java gem into ./pkg on the host. The Chicory/ASM
+# jars are not bundled; they are fetched from Maven when the gem is installed.
 $ docker run --rm -e RBS_PLATFORM=java -v "$PWD/pkg:/out" rbs-jruby \
     gem build rbs.gemspec -o /out/rbs-X.Y.Z-java.gem
 
diff --git a/lib/rbs/wasm/runtime.rb b/lib/rbs/wasm/runtime.rb
index 5065b85e4..40859c9eb 100644
--- a/lib/rbs/wasm/runtime.rb
+++ b/lib/rbs/wasm/runtime.rb
@@ -10,21 +10,12 @@ module WASM
     # source string into the module's linear memory, runs the parser, and returns
     # the serialized result for RBS::WASM::Deserializer to rebuild.
     #
-    # Chicory is a pure-Java runtime, so there is no native dependency: only the
-    # `.wasm` and the Chicory jars need to ship with the gem.
+    # Chicory is a pure-Java runtime, so there is no native dependency. The
+    # `.wasm` ships in the gem; the Chicory jars are fetched from Maven by
+    # jar-dependencies (see lib/rbs_jars.rb and rbs.gemspec).
     class Runtime
       include MonitorMixin
 
-      # The Chicory jars the runtime needs at load time.
-      # Jars Chicory needs to load and run the module.
-      JARS = %w[wasm runtime log wasi].freeze
-
-      # Jars for Chicory's ahead-of-time compiler (wasm -> JVM bytecode), which
-      # runs the parser ~8x faster than the interpreter. Optional: the runtime
-      # falls back to the interpreter when they are absent. asm* are the ow2 ASM
-      # libraries the compiler depends on.
-      OPTIONAL_JARS = %w[compiler asm asm-tree asm-util asm-commons asm-analysis].freeze
-
       class << self
         def instance
           @instance ||= new
@@ -33,15 +24,14 @@ def instance
         def wasm_path
           ENV["RBS_WASM_PARSER"] || File.expand_path("rbs_parser.wasm", __dir__)
         end
-
-        def jars_dir
-          ENV["RBS_WASM_JARS"] || File.expand_path("jars", __dir__)
-        end
       end
 
       def initialize
         super()
-        load_jars
+        # rbs_jars.rb require_jars the Chicory/ASM jars from the local Maven
+        # repository (~/.m2), where jar-dependencies puts them at gem install (or
+        # `rake wasm:install_jars` when running from source).
+        require "rbs_jars"
         @wasm = build_instance
         @memory = @wasm.memory
         @alloc = @wasm.export("rbs_wasm_alloc")
@@ -201,17 +191,6 @@ def machine_factory(wasm_module)
         nil
       end
 
-      def load_jars
-        JARS.each { |name| require jar_path(name) }
-        OPTIONAL_JARS.each do |name|
-          path = jar_path(name)
-          require path if File.exist?(path)
-        end
-      end
-
-      def jar_path(name)
-        File.join(self.class.jars_dir, "#{name}.jar")
-      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/rbs_jars.rb b/lib/rbs_jars.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d0c0a8f2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rbs_jars.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+#
+# Loads the Chicory/ASM jars for the JRuby WebAssembly parser (RBS::WASM::Runtime)
+# from the local Maven repository. Hand-maintained, NOT auto-generated: the
+# jar-dependencies generator mangles the `com.dylibso.chicory:runtime` artifact id
+# into `jar` (its artifact name collides with a Maven scope keyword). Leaving out
+# the usual "this is a generated file" marker also stops jar-dependencies from
+# overwriting this file at gem install. Keep this list in sync with the `jar`
+# requirements in rbs.gemspec.
+require "jar_dependencies"
+
+require_jar "com.dylibso.chicory", "wasm", "1.7.5"
+require_jar "com.dylibso.chicory", "runtime", "1.7.5"
+require_jar "com.dylibso.chicory", "log", "1.7.5"
+require_jar "com.dylibso.chicory", "wasi", "1.7.5"
+require_jar "com.dylibso.chicory", "compiler", "1.7.5"
+require_jar "org.ow2.asm", "asm", "9.9.1"
+require_jar "org.ow2.asm", "asm-tree", "9.9.1"
+require_jar "org.ow2.asm", "asm-util", "9.9.1"
+require_jar "org.ow2.asm", "asm-commons", "9.9.1"
+require_jar "org.ow2.asm", "asm-analysis", "9.9.1"
diff --git a/rbs.gemspec b/rbs.gemspec
index ee78e0426..f155c616b 100644
--- a/rbs.gemspec
+++ b/rbs.gemspec
@@ -38,8 +38,10 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
 
   # JRuby cannot load the MRI C extension. On JRuby (and in the `java` platform
   # gem, built with RBS_PLATFORM=java) RBS runs the WebAssembly-backed parser, so
-  # ship the prebuilt parser and the Chicory jars (assembled by
-  # `rake wasm:jruby_setup`) and skip the C extension.
+  # ship the prebuilt parser (built by `rake wasm:build`) and skip the C
+  # extension. The Chicory/ASM jars the runtime needs are NOT shipped in the gem:
+  # they are declared as `jar-dependencies` requirements below and fetched from
+  # Maven Central at install time (see lib/rbs/wasm/jars.rb).
   building_java_gem = ENV["RBS_PLATFORM"] == "java"
   on_jruby = defined?(RUBY_ENGINE) && RUBY_ENGINE == "jruby"
 
@@ -47,9 +49,26 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
     # Only stamp the platform when building the release gem; leave it unset for
     # local development on JRuby so it still matches a `ruby` platform lockfile.
     spec.platform = "java" if building_java_gem
+    # rbs_parser.wasm is a build artifact (not tracked in git), so add it
+    # explicitly. lib/rbs_jars.rb is committed, so git ls-files already has it.
     spec.files += Dir.chdir(File.expand_path('..', __FILE__)) do
-      Dir.glob("lib/rbs/wasm/rbs_parser.wasm") + Dir.glob("lib/rbs/wasm/jars/*.jar")
+      Dir.glob("lib/rbs/wasm/rbs_parser.wasm")
     end
+
+    # jar-dependencies (bundled with JRuby) downloads these jars from Maven when
+    # the gem is installed, keeping the gem small and avoiding conflicting copies.
+    # lib/rbs_jars.rb require_jars them at runtime; keep the two lists in sync.
+    spec.add_dependency "jar-dependencies", ">= 0.1.7"
+    spec.requirements << "jar com.dylibso.chicory:wasm, 1.7.5"
+    spec.requirements << "jar com.dylibso.chicory:runtime, 1.7.5"
+    spec.requirements << "jar com.dylibso.chicory:log, 1.7.5"
+    spec.requirements << "jar com.dylibso.chicory:wasi, 1.7.5"
+    spec.requirements << "jar com.dylibso.chicory:compiler, 1.7.5"
+    spec.requirements << "jar org.ow2.asm:asm, 9.9.1"
+    spec.requirements << "jar org.ow2.asm:asm-tree, 9.9.1"
+    spec.requirements << "jar org.ow2.asm:asm-util, 9.9.1"
+    spec.requirements << "jar org.ow2.asm:asm-commons, 9.9.1"
+    spec.requirements << "jar org.ow2.asm:asm-analysis, 9.9.1"
   else
     spec.extensions = %w{ext/rbs_extension/extconf.rb}
   end
diff --git a/wasm/README.md b/wasm/README.md
index 71e513a63..89a652cfd 100644
--- a/wasm/README.md
+++ b/wasm/README.md
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ The build needs the [WASI SDK](https://github.com/WebAssembly/wasi-sdk/releases)
 
 ```console
 $ export WASI_SDK_PATH=/path/to/wasi-sdk
-$ rake wasm:build       # compile rbs_parser.wasm
-$ rake wasm:check       # also smoke-test it (needs wasmtime)
-$ rake wasm:jruby_setup # assemble lib/rbs/wasm/ for JRuby (wasm + Chicory jars)
+$ rake wasm:build        # compile rbs_parser.wasm
+$ rake wasm:check        # also smoke-test it (needs wasmtime)
+$ rake wasm:jruby_setup  # copy rbs_parser.wasm into lib/rbs/wasm/ for JRuby
+$ rake wasm:install_jars # download the Chicory/ASM jars into ~/.m2 (run on JRuby)
 ```
 
 The compiled `rbs_parser.wasm` is a build artifact and is not checked in.