diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 462df1f..64fedd1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -251,8 +251,10 @@ distro's default java may well be by now, and the failure when it is says
 `Could not create task ':test'` and `Type T not present` without ever mentioning
 Java. `build.sh` exists to pick a JDK between 17 and 23 - honouring `JAVA_HOME`
 if it already points at one - and to say what is wrong in as many words when
-there is none to pick. Extra arguments are passed straight through, so
-`./build.sh clean build` and `./build.sh --info` work.
+there is none to pick. Arguments are passed through, with any task named
+replacing the default `build` rather than adding to it, so `./build.sh clean
+build` cleans and then builds; a bare flag such as `./build.sh --info` still
+gets the default task.
 
 None of this touches what the mod is compiled against: the toolchain in
 `build.gradle` is Java 21 either way, and Gradle provisions it if it is missing.
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 386b333..703f984 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -39,18 +39,38 @@ if [ -z "${JAVA_HOME:-}" ] || ! usable "$JAVA_HOME"; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# Named tasks replace the default rather than being appended to it. Appending
+# would turn `build.sh clean build` into `gradlew build clean build`, which
+# Gradle folds back into build and clean, in that order - it cleans away the jar
+# it just built. Bare flags still get the default task, so `build.sh --info`
+# means an informative build rather than a no-op.
+tasks=()
+for arg in "$@"; do
+    [ "${arg#-}" = "$arg" ] && tasks+=("$arg")
+done
+[ ${#tasks[@]} -eq 0 ] && set -- build "$@"
+
 echo "build.sh: using JDK $(java_major "$JAVA_HOME") at $JAVA_HOME"
-./gradlew build "$@"
+./gradlew "$@"
 
 # Name the jar this run produced. Old versions linger in build/libs/, so listing
-# the whole directory would be ambiguous about which one is current.
-prop() { sed -n "s/^$1=//p" gradle.properties; }
-jar="build/libs/$(prop mod_id)-$(prop mod_version).jar"
+# the whole directory would be ambiguous about which one is current. Only worth
+# saying when a task that builds one actually ran: `build.sh clean` legitimately
+# ends with no jar at all.
+builds_jar=false
+for arg in "$@"; do
+    case "$arg" in build | assemble | jar) builds_jar=true ;; esac
+done
 
-echo
-if [ -f "$jar" ]; then
-    echo "Built: $jar"
-else
-    echo "build.sh: expected $jar, but it is not there." >&2
-    exit 1
+if [ "$builds_jar" = true ]; then
+    prop() { sed -n "s/^$1=//p" gradle.properties; }
+    jar="build/libs/$(prop mod_id)-$(prop mod_version).jar"
+
+    echo
+    if [ -f "$jar" ]; then
+        echo "Built: $jar"
+    else
+        echo "build.sh: expected $jar, but it is not there." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
 fi