diff --git a/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go b/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go
index 0414e921f..c2b749758 100644
--- a/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go
+++ b/cmd/syft/internal/options/catalog.go
@@ -210,7 +210,8 @@ func (cfg Catalog) ToPackagesConfig() pkgcataloging.Config {
 			WithUseNetwork(*multiLevelOption(false, enrichmentEnabled(cfg.Enrich, task.Java, task.Maven), cfg.Java.UseNetwork)).
 			WithMavenBaseURL(cfg.Java.MavenURL).
 			WithArchiveTraversal(archiveSearch, cfg.Java.MaxParentRecursiveDepth).
-			WithResolveTransitiveDependencies(cfg.Java.ResolveTransitiveDependencies),
+			WithResolveTransitiveDependencies(cfg.Java.ResolveTransitiveDependencies).
+			WithDetectContainedPackages(cfg.Java.DetectContainedPackages),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/syft/internal/options/java.go b/cmd/syft/internal/options/java.go
index 80849f242..5dbe16a0a 100644
--- a/cmd/syft/internal/options/java.go
+++ b/cmd/syft/internal/options/java.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ type javaConfig struct {
 	MavenURL                      string `yaml:"maven-url" json:"maven-url" mapstructure:"maven-url"`
 	MaxParentRecursiveDepth       int    `yaml:"max-parent-recursive-depth" json:"max-parent-recursive-depth" mapstructure:"max-parent-recursive-depth"`
 	ResolveTransitiveDependencies bool   `yaml:"resolve-transitive-dependencies" json:"resolve-transitive-dependencies" mapstructure:"resolve-transitive-dependencies"`
+	DetectContainedPackages       bool   `yaml:"detect-contained-packages" json:"detect-contained-packages" mapstructure:"detect-contained-packages"`
 }
 
 func defaultJavaConfig() javaConfig {
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ func defaultJavaConfig() javaConfig {
 		MavenLocalRepositoryDir:       def.MavenLocalRepositoryDir,
 		MavenURL:                      def.MavenBaseURL,
 		ResolveTransitiveDependencies: def.ResolveTransitiveDependencies,
+		DetectContainedPackages:       def.DetectContainedPackages,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -46,4 +48,6 @@ build, run 'mvn help:effective-pom' before performing the scan with syft.`)
 	descriptions.Add(&o.MavenLocalRepositoryDir, `override the default location of the local Maven repository. 
 the default is the subdirectory '.m2/repository' in your home directory`)
 	descriptions.Add(&o.ResolveTransitiveDependencies, `resolve transient dependencies such as those defined in a dependency's POM on Maven central`)
+	descriptions.Add(&o.DetectContainedPackages, `collect all Java package names contained within JAR files. This extracts package information
+from class file paths within the archive`)
 }
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go
index ca5426ae6..271626323 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser.go
@@ -890,19 +890,25 @@ func isValidMultiReleaseVersion(s string) bool {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	if s == "9" {
-		return true
-	}
-
-	// 0 is not allowed
+	// Must start with 1-9 (format: {1-9}{0-9}*)
 	if s[0] < '1' || s[0] > '9' {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	// Ony digits are allowed
-	return strings.IndexFunc(s, func(r rune) bool {
+	// Only digits are allowed
+	if strings.IndexFunc(s, func(r rune) bool {
 		return r < '0' || r > '9'
-	}) != -1
+	}) != -1 {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// Per spec: "Any versioned directory with N < 9 is ignored"
+	// Single digit must be 9; multi-digit (10+) is always >= 9
+	if len(s) == 1 && s[0] < '9' {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	return true
 }
 
 func (j *archiveParser) discoverContainedPackages() []string {
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go
index 9cb541e91..a0a3b5e8e 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/archive_parser_test.go
@@ -1817,3 +1817,44 @@ func Test_jarPomPropertyResolutionDoesNotPanic(t *testing.T) {
 	_, _, err = ap.parse(ctx, nil)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
+
+func Test_isValidMultiReleaseVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		input    string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		// Valid versions (multi-release JARs require version >= 9)
+		{"9", true},
+		{"10", true},
+		{"11", true},
+		{"17", true},
+		{"21", true},
+		{"100", true},
+
+		// Invalid versions - less than 9 (per spec: "Any versioned directory with N < 9 is ignored")
+		{"1", false},
+		{"2", false},
+		{"8", false},
+
+		// Invalid versions - format errors
+		{"", false},          // empty string
+		{"0", false},         // zero not allowed (first digit must be 1-9)
+		{"01", false},        // leading zero
+		{"9a", false},        // contains non-digit
+		{"a9", false},        // starts with non-digit
+		{"abc", false},       // all non-digits
+		{"-1", false},        // negative (starts with non-digit)
+		{"9.0", false},       // contains non-digit (period)
+		{"11-ea", false},     // contains non-digit (dash and letters)
+		{" 9", false},        // leading space
+		{"9 ", false},        // trailing space
+		{"1.8", false},       // old-style version format
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("input=%q", tt.input), func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := isValidMultiReleaseVersion(tt.input)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, result, "isValidMultiReleaseVersion(%q)", tt.input)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/config.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/config.go
index 005bd871a..b5c090b23 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/config.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/java/config.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ type ArchiveCatalogerConfig struct {
 
 	// DetectContainedPackages enables collecting all package names contained in a jar.
 	// app-config: java.detect-contained-packages
-	DetectContainedPackages bool `yaml:"detect-contained-packages" json:"detect-contained-packages"  mapstructure:"detect-contained-packages"`
+	DetectContainedPackages bool `yaml:"detect-contained-packages" json:"detect-contained-packages" mapstructure:"detect-contained-packages"`
 }
 
 func DefaultArchiveCatalogerConfig() ArchiveCatalogerConfig {
diff --git a/syft/pkg/java.go b/syft/pkg/java.go
index 713919827..64a54d314 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/java.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/java.go
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ type JavaArchive struct {
 	ArchiveDigests []file.Digest `hash:"ignore" json:"digest,omitempty"`
 
 	// ContainedPackages is a list of all package names contained in the jar
-	ContainedPackages []string `mapstructure:"ContainedPackages" json:"containedPackages"`
+	ContainedPackages []string `mapstructure:"ContainedPackages" json:"containedPackages,omitempty"`
 
 	// Parent is reference to parent package (for nested archives)
 	Parent *Package `hash:"ignore" json:"-"`