diff --git a/dev/release/verify/java/pom.xml b/dev/release/verify/java/pom.xml
index eef3ae12aa..759911dcce 100644
--- a/dev/release/verify/java/pom.xml
+++ b/dev/release/verify/java/pom.xml
@@ -93,6 +93,23 @@
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 
+  <build>
+    <pluginManagement>
+      <plugins>
+        <!-- Pin the version: some distributions (e.g. Debian) patch Maven's
+             default to surefire 2.17, which can't run JUnit 5 tests. -->
+        <plugin>
+          <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+          <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+          <version>3.5.2</version>
+          <configuration>
+            <failIfNoTests>true</failIfNoTests>
+          </configuration>
+        </plugin>
+      </plugins>
+    </pluginManagement>
+  </build>
+
   <profiles>
     <profile>
       <id>java-25+</id>