diff --git a/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi b/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi
index 6be86db..d652727 100644
--- a/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi
+++ b/jnius/jnius_export_class.pxi
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@ class MetaJavaClass(type):
 
         jcs.j_env = get_jnienv()
         if jcs.j_env == NULL:
-            raise JavaException('Unable to get the Android JNI Environment')
+            raise JavaException('Unable to get the JNI Environment')
 
         jcs.j_cls = jcs.j_env[0].FindClass(jcs.j_env,
                 <char *>__javaclass__)
         if jcs.j_cls == NULL:
-            raise JavaException('Unable to found the class'
+            raise JavaException('Unable to find the class'
                     ' {0}'.format(__javaclass__))
 
         classDict['__cls_storage'] = jcs
diff --git a/jnius/jnius_jvm_desktop.pxi b/jnius/jnius_jvm_desktop.pxi
index 53d0eb0..7b30670 100644
--- a/jnius/jnius_jvm_desktop.pxi
+++ b/jnius/jnius_jvm_desktop.pxi
@@ -16,15 +16,39 @@ cdef extern from "jni.h":
 
 cdef JNIEnv *default_env = NULL
 
+def classpath():
+    import platform
+    from glob import glob
+    from os import environ
+    from os.path import realpath
+
+    if 'CLASSPATH' not in environ:
+        return realpath('.')
+    cp = environ.get('CLASSPATH')
+    if platform.system() == 'Windows':
+        split_char = ';'
+    else:
+        split_char = ':'
+    pre_paths = cp.split(split_char)
+    # deal with wildcards
+    paths = []
+    for path in pre_paths:
+        if not path.endswith('*'):
+            paths.append(path)
+        else:
+            paths.extend(glob(path + '.jar'))
+            paths.extend(glob(path + '.JAR'))
+    result = split_char.join(paths)
+    return result
+    
+
 cdef void create_jnienv():
     cdef JavaVM* jvm
     cdef JavaVMInitArgs args
     cdef JavaVMOption options[1]
     cdef bytes py_bytes
 
-    from os import environ
-    from os.path import realpath
-    cp = environ.get('CLASSPATH') or realpath('.')
+    cp = classpath()
     py_bytes = <bytes>('-Djava.class.path={0}'.format(cp))
     options[0].optionString = py_bytes
     options[0].extraInfo = NULL