diff --git a/subprojects/scala/src/main/java/org/gradle/api/tasks/scala/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurer.java b/subprojects/scala/src/main/java/org/gradle/api/tasks/scala/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurer.java
index 326770c866a9..f82bb5a52608 100644
--- a/subprojects/scala/src/main/java/org/gradle/api/tasks/scala/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurer.java
+++ b/subprojects/scala/src/main/java/org/gradle/api/tasks/scala/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurer.java
@@ -36,13 +36,20 @@
 public class ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurer {
 
     private static final int FALLBACK_JVM_TARGET = 8;
+
+    /**
+     * Support for these flags in different minor releases of Scala varies,
+     * but we need to detect as many variants as possible to avoid overriding the target or release.
+     */
     private static final List<String> TARGET_DEFINING_PARAMETERS = Arrays.asList(
         // Scala 2
-        "-target:", "--target:",
+        "-target", "--target",
         // Scala 2 and 3
-        "-release:", "--release:",
+        "-release", "--release",
         // Scala 3
-        "-Xtarget:", "-java-output-version:", "-Xunchecked-java-output-version:"
+        "-java-output-version", "--java-output-version",
+        "-Xunchecked-java-output-version", "--Xunchecked-java-output-version",
+        "-Xtarget", "--Xtarget"
     );
 
     private static final VersionNumber PLAIN_TARGET_FORMAT_SINCE_VERSION = VersionNumber.parse("2.13.1");
@@ -76,7 +83,8 @@ public static void configure(ScalaCompileOptions scalaCompileOptions, JavaInstal
     }
 
     private static boolean hasTargetDefiningParameter(List<String> additionalParameters) {
-        return additionalParameters.stream().anyMatch(s -> TARGET_DEFINING_PARAMETERS.stream().anyMatch(s::startsWith));
+        return additionalParameters.stream()
+            .anyMatch(s -> TARGET_DEFINING_PARAMETERS.stream().anyMatch(param -> param.equals(s) || s.startsWith(param + ":")));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/subprojects/scala/src/test/groovy/org/gradle/scala/compile/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurerTest.groovy b/subprojects/scala/src/test/groovy/org/gradle/scala/compile/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurerTest.groovy
index 18683dd61fce..37c218602bd5 100644
--- a/subprojects/scala/src/test/groovy/org/gradle/scala/compile/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurerTest.groovy
+++ b/subprojects/scala/src/test/groovy/org/gradle/scala/compile/internal/ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurerTest.groovy
@@ -120,21 +120,38 @@ class ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurerTest extends Specification {
         ]
     }
 
-    def 'does not configure target jvm if scala compiler already has a target via #targetFlag flag'() {
+    def 'does not configure target jvm if scala compiler already has a configured target via #targetFlagName flag'() {
         given:
         ScalaCompileOptions scalaCompileOptions = TestUtil.newInstance(ScalaCompileOptions)
-        scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters = [targetFlag]
+        scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters = targetFlagParts.toList()
         Set<File> classpath = [new File("scala-library-2.13.1.jar")]
 
         when:
         ScalaCompileOptionsConfigurer.configure(scalaCompileOptions, createToolchain(17, false), classpath)
 
         then:
-        scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters.find { it == targetFlag }
+        scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters.find { it == targetFlagParts[0] }
         scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters.find { it.contains("17") } == null
 
         where:
-        targetFlag << ['-target:8', '--target:8', '-release:8', '--release:8', '-Xtarget:8', '-java-output-version:8', '-Xunchecked-java-output-version:8']
+        targetFlagParts                          | _
+        ['-target:8']                            | _
+        ['--target:8']                           | _
+        ['-target', '8']                         | _
+        ['-release:8']                           | _
+        ['--release:8']                          | _
+        ['-release', '8']                        | _
+        ['--release', '8']                       | _
+        ['-java-output-version:8']               | _
+        ['-java-output-version', '8']            | _
+        ['-Xtarget:8']                           | _
+        ['-Xtarget', '8']                        | _
+        ['--Xtarget:8']                          | _
+        ['--Xtarget', '8']                       | _
+        ['-Xunchecked-java-output-version:8']    | _
+        ['-Xunchecked-java-output-version', '8'] | _
+
+        targetFlagName = targetFlagParts[0]
     }
 
     private JavaToolchain createToolchain(int javaVersion, boolean isFallback) {