diff --git a/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/java/java_import.bzl b/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/java/java_import.bzl
index 3cabd559e64305..453f2ce4779588 100644
--- a/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/java/java_import.bzl
+++ b/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/java/java_import.bzl
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ JAVA_IMPORT_ATTRS = merge_attrs(
             allow_files = True,
         ),
         # Additional attrs
-        "licenses": attr.string_list(),
+        "licenses": attr.license() if hasattr(attr, "license") else attr.string_list(),
         "_java_toolchain_type": attr.label(default = semantics.JAVA_TOOLCHAIN_TYPE),
     },
 )