Java can't find libjli.so in chroot jail unless bash is present

Question

I am trying to execute a Java program inside a chroot jail . I have bind-mounted /dev, /proc, /lib, /lib32, /lib64, and /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_251/jre to directories of the same names inside the jail.

If I try to run jail /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_251/jre/bin/java MainClass (jail being a program that sets up the jail and runs a given command inside it), I get an error: error while loading shared libraries: libjli.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

I add /bin/strace to the jail and run jail /bin/strace /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_251/java/jre/bin/java MainClass, and this gives the same error but strace tells me that the file it is looking for is /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_251/jre/bin/../lib/amd64/jli/libjli.so (which exists).

Trying to verify that the file exists, I add /bin/bash to the jail and run jail /bin/bash. Yes, the file exists. From bash, I run /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_251/jre/bin/java MainClass. And suddenly it works.

Now, with /bin/bash in the jail, I see the following behaviour:

1. Running jail /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_251/jre/bin/java MainClass fails (libjli.so not found)
2. Running jail /bin/bash -c "/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_251/jre/bin/java MainClass" works.

Happy as I am to have found a workaround, I am totally baffled. Does anyone have any idea why the use of bash to run the Java interpreter would give a different result from running it directly?