diff --git a/project/scripts/bootstrapCmdTests b/project/scripts/bootstrapCmdTests
index af1ffef87a33..0dfa3460eeaa 100755
--- a/project/scripts/bootstrapCmdTests
+++ b/project/scripts/bootstrapCmdTests
@@ -77,3 +77,9 @@ grep -qe "Usage: scala <options> <source files>" "$tmp"
 
 ./bin/scala -d hello.jar tests/run/hello.scala
 ls hello.jar
+
+echo "testing i12973"
+clear_out "$OUT"
+./bin/scalac -d "$OUT/out.jar" tests/pos/i12973.scala
+echo "Bug12973().check" | TERM=dumb ./bin/scala -cp "$OUT/out.jar" > "$tmp" 2>&1
+grep -qe "Bug12973 is fixed" "$tmp"
diff --git a/tests/pos/i12973.scala b/tests/pos/i12973.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9cda7dbc120b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pos/i12973.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// Compiled and placed on the REPL classpath in the bootstrapCmdTests script
+// to test that launching the REPL with `scala -cp <path>` works (issue #12973)
+case class Bug12973():
+  def check = s"$productPrefix is fixed"