Gradle error when updating kotlin version

When I try to update the kotlin version in my build.gradle from 1.2.51 to either 1.2.71 or 1.3.0, I somehow got this error when running ./gradlew compileJava:

Compilation with Kotlin compile daemon was not successful
java.rmi.ServerException: RemoteException occurred in server thread; nested exception is: 
        java.rmi.UnmarshalException: error unmarshalling arguments; nested exception is: 
        java.io.InvalidClassException: org.jetbrains.kotlin.daemon.common.IncrementalModuleInfo; local class incompatible: stream classdesc serialVersionUID = 8101376246233266805, local class serialVersionUID = 5581250718688614835
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.dispatch(UnicastServerRef.java:389)
        at sun.rmi.transport.Transport$1.run(Transport.java:200)
        at sun.rmi.transport.Transport$1.run(Transport.java:197)
        at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
        at sun.rmi.transport.Transport.serviceCall(Transport.java:196)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport.handleMessages(TCPTransport.java:573)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.run0(TCPTransport.java:834)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.lambda$run$0(TCPTransport.java:688)
        at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.run(TCPTransport.java:687)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
        at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.exceptionReceivedFromServer(StreamRemoteCall.java:283)
        at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.executeCall(StreamRemoteCall.java:260)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastRef.invoke(UnicastRef.java:161)
        at java.rmi.server.RemoteObjectInvocationHandler.invokeRemoteMethod(RemoteObjectInvocationHandler.java:227)
        at java.rmi.server.RemoteObjectInvocationHandler.invoke(RemoteObjectInvocationHandler.java:179)
        at com.sun.proxy.$Proxy84.compile(Unknown Source)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.incrementalCompilationWithDaemon(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:289)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.compileWithDaemon(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:217)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.compileWithDaemonOrFallback(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:166)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.compileWithDaemonOrFallback(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:63)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.KotlinCompilerRunner.runCompiler(KotlinCompilerRunner.kt:133)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.runJvmCompiler(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:119)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.KotlinCompile.callCompiler$kotlin_gradle_plugin(Tasks.kt:393)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.KotlinCompile.callCompiler$kotlin_gradle_plugin(Tasks.kt:297)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.AbstractKotlinCompile.execute(Tasks.kt:259)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
        at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
        at org.gradle.internal.reflect.JavaMethod.invoke(JavaMethod.java:73)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.IncrementalTaskAction.doExecute(IncrementalTaskAction.java:50)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.StandardTaskAction.execute(StandardTaskAction.java:39)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.StandardTaskAction.execute(StandardTaskAction.java:26)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter$1.run(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:124)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:317)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:309)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:185)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:97)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.run(DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.java:31)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeAction(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:113)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeActions(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:95)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:73)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.OutputDirectoryCreatingTaskExecuter.execute(OutputDirectoryCreatingTaskExecuter.java:51)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.execute(SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.java:59)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.java:54)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ValidatingTaskExecuter.execute(ValidatingTaskExecuter.java:59)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.execute(SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.java:101)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.FinalizeInputFilePropertiesTaskExecuter.execute(FinalizeInputFilePropertiesTaskExecuter.java:44)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.CleanupStaleOutputsExecuter.execute(CleanupStaleOutputsExecuter.java:91)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.java:62)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.execute(SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.java:59)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.execute(SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.java:54)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.java:43)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.execute(CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.java:34)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker$1.run(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:256)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:317)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:309)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:185)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:97)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.run(DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.java:31)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:249)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:238)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:104)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:98)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.execute(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:663)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.executeWithTask(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:596)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.run(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:98)
        at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ExecutorPolicy$CatchAndRecordFailures.onExecute(ExecutorPolicy.java:63)
        at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ManagedExecutorImpl$1.run(ManagedExecutorImpl.java:46)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
        at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ThreadFactoryImpl$ManagedThreadRunnable.run(ThreadFactoryImpl.java:55)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Caused by: java.rmi.UnmarshalException: error unmarshalling arguments; nested exception is: 
        java.io.InvalidClassException: org.jetbrains.kotlin.daemon.common.IncrementalModuleInfo; local class incompatible: stream classdesc serialVersionUID = 8101376246233266805, local class serialVersionUID = 5581250718688614835
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.dispatch(UnicastServerRef.java:348)
        at sun.rmi.transport.Transport$1.run(Transport.java:200)
        at sun.rmi.transport.Transport$1.run(Transport.java:197)
        at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
        at sun.rmi.transport.Transport.serviceCall(Transport.java:196)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport.handleMessages(TCPTransport.java:573)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.run0(TCPTransport.java:834)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.lambda$run$0(TCPTransport.java:688)
        at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.run(TCPTransport.java:687)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
        ... 1 more
Caused by: java.io.InvalidClassException: org.jetbrains.kotlin.daemon.common.IncrementalModuleInfo; local class incompatible: stream classdesc serialVersionUID = 8101376246233266805, local class serialVersionUID = 5581250718688614835
        at java.io.ObjectStreamClass.initNonProxy(ObjectStreamClass.java:699)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readNonProxyDesc(ObjectInputStream.java:1885)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readClassDesc(ObjectInputStream.java:1751)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readOrdinaryObject(ObjectInputStream.java:2042)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject0(ObjectInputStream.java:1573)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.defaultReadFields(ObjectInputStream.java:2287)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readSerialData(ObjectInputStream.java:2211)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readOrdinaryObject(ObjectInputStream.java:2069)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject0(ObjectInputStream.java:1573)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject(ObjectInputStream.java:431)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastRef.unmarshalValue(UnicastRef.java:322)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.unmarshalParametersUnchecked(UnicastServerRef.java:628)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.unmarshalParameters(UnicastServerRef.java:616)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.dispatch(UnicastServerRef.java:338)
        ... 12 more
Could not connect to kotlin daemon. Using fallback strategy.
e: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
        at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.compileInProcess(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:336)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.compileWithDaemonOrFallback(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:178)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.compileWithDaemonOrFallback(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:63)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.KotlinCompilerRunner.runCompiler(KotlinCompilerRunner.kt:133)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.compilerRunner.GradleCompilerRunner.runJvmCompiler(GradleKotlinCompilerRunner.kt:119)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.KotlinCompile.callCompiler$kotlin_gradle_plugin(Tasks.kt:393)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.KotlinCompile.callCompiler$kotlin_gradle_plugin(Tasks.kt:297)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.AbstractKotlinCompile.execute(Tasks.kt:259)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
        at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
        at org.gradle.internal.reflect.JavaMethod.invoke(JavaMethod.java:73)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.IncrementalTaskAction.doExecute(IncrementalTaskAction.java:50)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.StandardTaskAction.execute(StandardTaskAction.java:39)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.StandardTaskAction.execute(StandardTaskAction.java:26)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter$1.run(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:124)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:317)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:309)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:185)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:97)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.run(DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.java:31)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeAction(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:113)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeActions(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:95)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:73)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.OutputDirectoryCreatingTaskExecuter.execute(OutputDirectoryCreatingTaskExecuter.java:51)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.execute(SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.java:59)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskOutputCachingStateExecuter.java:54)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ValidatingTaskExecuter.execute(ValidatingTaskExecuter.java:59)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.execute(SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.java:101)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.FinalizeInputFilePropertiesTaskExecuter.execute(FinalizeInputFilePropertiesTaskExecuter.java:44)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.CleanupStaleOutputsExecuter.execute(CleanupStaleOutputsExecuter.java:91)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.execute(ResolveTaskArtifactStateTaskExecuter.java:62)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.execute(SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.java:59)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.execute(SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.java:54)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.java:43)
        at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.execute(CatchExceptionTaskExecuter.java:34)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker$1.run(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:256)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:317)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor$RunnableBuildOperationWorker.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:309)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.execute(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:185)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.run(DefaultBuildOperationExecutor.java:97)
        at org.gradle.internal.operations.DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.run(DelegatingBuildOperationExecutor.java:31)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:249)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter$EventFiringTaskWorker.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:238)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:104)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker$1.execute(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:98)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.execute(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:663)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.executeWithTask(DefaultTaskExecutionPlan.java:596)
        at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.run(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:98)
        at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ExecutorPolicy$CatchAndRecordFailures.onExecute(ExecutorPolicy.java:63)
        at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ManagedExecutorImpl$1.run(ManagedExecutorImpl.java:46)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
        at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ThreadFactoryImpl$ManagedThreadRunnable.run(ThreadFactoryImpl.java:55)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: kotlin/reflect/full/KClasses
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.common.arguments.ParseCommandLineArgumentsKt.parsePreprocessedCommandLineArguments(parseCommandLineArguments.kt:70)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.common.arguments.ParseCommandLineArgumentsKt.parseCommandLineArguments(parseCommandLineArguments.kt:63)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.common.CLITool.exec(CLITool.kt:44)
        at org.jetbrains.kotlin.cli.common.CLICompiler.execAndOutputXml(CLICompiler.java:58)
        ... 60 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kotlin.reflect.full.KClasses
        at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:382)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:424)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
        ... 64 more

From the looks of it it seems that the culprit is java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: kotlin.reflect.full.KClasses, but I already have kotlin-reflect in my build.gradle:

buildscript {
  ext.kotlin_version = '1.3.0'
  ext.kotlin_coroutine_version = '0.30.2'

  repositories {
    jcenter()
  }

  dependencies {
    classpath "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin:$kotlin_version"
  }
}

apply plugin: org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.plugin.KotlinPluginWrapper

kotlin {
  experimental {
    coroutines 'enable'
  }
}

idea.module {
  sourceDirs += file("src/main/kotlin")
  testSourceDirs += file("src/test/kotlin")
}

dependencies {
  compile "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk7:$kotlin_version"
  compile "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-reflect:$kotlin_version"
  compile "org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kotlinx-coroutines-core:$kotlin_coroutine_version"
  testCompile "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-test-testng:$kotlin_version"
}

Any idea what I’m doing wrong? I’m using Gradle 4.7. Thanks in advance.

Turns out it is because we have a gradle dependency lock plugin on our repo and we didn’t update the locked version, so we’re using different versions of them (plugin? compiler?) when invoking the build. Updating the locked version fixed the issue.

This is the solution that worked for me Android Kotlin compilation always fails · Issue #2945 · circleci/circleci-docs · GitHub