diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ejb/WebsphereDeploymentTool.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ejb/WebsphereDeploymentTool.java
index 876e304dd..c8c6589ea 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ejb/WebsphereDeploymentTool.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ejb/WebsphereDeploymentTool.java
@@ -699,6 +699,13 @@ public class WebsphereDeploymentTool extends GenericDeploymentTool {
      */
     public void validateConfigured() throws BuildException {
         super.validateConfigured();
+        if (ejbdeploy) {
+            String home = getTask().getProject().getProperty("websphere.home");
+            if (home == null) {
+                throw new BuildException("The 'websphere.home' property must be set when 'ejbdeploy=true'");
+            }
+            websphereHome = getTask().getProject().resolveFile(home);
+        }
     }