diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/netflix/conductor/core/events/ScriptEvaluator.java b/core/src/main/java/com/netflix/conductor/core/events/ScriptEvaluator.java
index 6a8d68dcd3..a2d8816ae5 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/netflix/conductor/core/events/ScriptEvaluator.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/netflix/conductor/core/events/ScriptEvaluator.java
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ public static Object eval(String script, Object input) throws ScriptException {
         if (engine == null) {
             engine = new NashornScriptEngineFactory().getScriptEngine();
         }
+        if (engine == null) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(
+                    "missing nashorn engine.  Ensure you are running supported JVM");
+        }
         Bindings bindings = engine.createBindings();
         bindings.put("$", input);
         return engine.eval(script, bindings);
diff --git a/server/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml b/server/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml
index 533009eba0..4cf6e9591b 100644
--- a/server/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml
+++ b/server/src/main/resources/log4j2.xml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
         <Console name="CONSOLE">
             <PatternLayout pattern="%-4r [%t] %-5p %c %x - %m%n"/>
         </Console>
-        <File name="File" filename="conductor_tests.log">
+        <File name="File" filename="../conductor_tests.log">
             <PatternLayout pattern="%-4r [%t] %-5p %c %x - %m%n"/>
         </File>
     </Appenders>