Compiling Ruby code into a class file and trying to load it afterwards leads to "LoadError: use java_import to load normal classes" if it includes a rescue command.
test.rb
puts 'hello world' rescue nil
compiled and run with
jrubyc test.rb
jruby -e "load 'test.class'"
leads to
LoadError: test.class is not compiled Ruby; use java_import to load normal classes
load at org/jruby/RubyKernel.java:955
<top> at -e:1
This happens with the current 9.0.5.0 snapshot and all previous 9.0.x versions.
$ jruby -v
jruby 9.0.5.0-SNAPSHOT (2.2.3) 2016-01-22 d7aefef Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 25.65-b01 on 1.8.0_65-b17 +jit [linux-amd64]