diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go
index cc92798cf04..e1b03b4379a 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ func (j *archiveParser) discoverMainPackage() (*pkg.Package, error) {
 	return &pkg.Package{
 		Name:         selectName(manifest, j.fileInfo),
 		Version:      selectVersion(manifest, j.fileInfo),
+		Licenses:     selectLicense(manifest),
 		Language:     pkg.Java,
 		Locations:    source.NewLocationSet(j.location),
 		Type:         j.fileInfo.pkgType(),
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go
index 480528b025c..c331dbbf89b 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ func TestParseJar(t *testing.T) {
 					Name:         "example-jenkins-plugin",
 					Version:      "1.0-SNAPSHOT",
 					PURL:         "pkg:maven/io.jenkins.plugins/example-jenkins-plugin@1.0-SNAPSHOT",
+					Licenses:     []string{"MIT License"},
 					Language:     pkg.Java,
 					Type:         pkg.JenkinsPluginPkg,
 					MetadataType: pkg.JavaMetadataType,
@@ -149,6 +150,7 @@ func TestParseJar(t *testing.T) {
 					Name:         "example-java-app-gradle",
 					Version:      "0.1.0",
 					PURL:         "pkg:maven/example-java-app-gradle/example-java-app-gradle@0.1.0",
+					Licenses:     []string{},
 					Language:     pkg.Java,
 					Type:         pkg.JavaPkg,
 					MetadataType: pkg.JavaMetadataType,
@@ -174,6 +176,7 @@ func TestParseJar(t *testing.T) {
 					Name:         "example-java-app-maven",
 					Version:      "0.1.0",
 					PURL:         "pkg:maven/org.anchore/example-java-app-maven@0.1.0",
+					Licenses:     []string{},
 					Language:     pkg.Java,
 					Type:         pkg.JavaPkg,
 					MetadataType: pkg.JavaMetadataType,
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/parse_java_manifest.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/parse_java_manifest.go
index 93e2823ff4c..134aa22976c 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/parse_java_manifest.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/parse_java_manifest.go
@@ -157,6 +157,26 @@ func selectVersion(manifest *pkg.JavaManifest, filenameObj archiveFilename) stri
 	return ""
 }
 
+func selectLicense(manifest *pkg.JavaManifest) []string {
+	result := []string{}
+	if manifest == nil {
+		return result
+	}
+
+	fieldNames := []string{
+		"Bundle-License",
+		"Plugin-License-Name",
+	}
+
+	for _, fieldName := range fieldNames {
+		if v := fieldValueFromManifest(*manifest, fieldName); v != "" {
+			result = append(result, v)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return result
+}
+
 func fieldValueFromManifest(manifest pkg.JavaManifest, fieldName string) string {
 	if value := manifest.Main[fieldName]; value != "" {
 		return value